Independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) and other lawmakers yesterday inaugurated the Taiwan Parliament Group for Uyghur.
“Our initiative is to show solidarity and support for Uighurs, as well as to network with legislators of other nations,” Lim said.
It is also to defend democracy and human rights as universal values,” he added.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
China has stepped up its oppression against Hong Kongers, Tibetans and Uighurs, he said, adding that “Taiwan cannot ignore these developments, because we are at the frontline of the Indo-Pacific region.”
World Uyghur Congress chairman Dolku Isa attended the inauguration event at the legislature in Taipei through videoconferencing.
“The Chinese Communist Party conducts severe crackdowns and brutal torture against Uighurs. We must draw attention to it for the international community to take action against these horrible crimes,” he said.
“We must also stand together in solidarity to fight against China’s human rights abuse and atrocities against Tibetans, Southern Mongolians, and the people of Hong Kong and Taiwan,” he said.
Dolku Isa said that during his trip to Taiwan in 2006, then-president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said that he would promote ties between Taiwan and Uighurs.
However, China in 2009 began to put pressure on him, and he has since been unable to visit Taiwan, he said, expressing the hope to do so in the near future.
Uighurs face genocide, he said, adding that “people must not keep silent on this anymore.”
Dolku Isa said he appreciates the lawmakers’ effort at this important point in time.
The event was also attended by Taiwan East Turkestan Association director Ho Chao-tung (何朝棟) and democracy advocate Wuer Kaixi, an exiled Uighur.
So far, 30 lawmakers have joined the group. Lin is to head the group, and Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) is to act as deputy head.
Three cases of Candida auris, a fungus that can cause a yeast infection known as candidiasis in humans, have been reported in Taiwan over the past few years, but they did not display drug resistance, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said yesterday. Lo made the statement at a news conference in Taipei, one day after the Washington Post reported that the potentially deadly fungus is spreading in US hospitals. The fungus was first discovered in Japan in 2009 and poses a danger to immunocompromised people, with an estimated mortality rate of 30 to 60 percent, Lo
‘DIRE’: Taiwan would not engage in ‘dollar diplomacy,’ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, after China reportedly offered Honduras up to US$3 billion to establish relations The government yesterday recalled its ambassador to Honduras after the Central American nation sent its foreign minister to China, signaling that it would sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Suspicions concerning ties with Honduras are rife after Honduran President Xiomara Castro on Tuesday last week wrote on Twitter that her country would pursue diplomatic ties with China. Honduran Minister of Foreign Affairs Eduardo Enrique Reina traveled to China on Wednesday “to promote efforts for the establishment of diplomatic relations” on instructions from Castro, Reuters yesterday quoted Honduran presidential spokesman Ivis Alvarado as saying. The government “has decided to immediately recall the ambassador to Honduras
‘NOTHING NEW’: China should not use Tsai Ing-wen’s transits through the US as a pretext to step up aggressive activity in the Taiwan Strait, a Washington official said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to stop over in the US on her way to and from Central America next week, but her administration would not confirm a meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Tsai’s delegation is to leave Taipei on Wednesday next week and stop over in New York City, Presidential Office spokeswoman Lin Yu-chan (林聿禪) told a news conference yesterday. Tsai is then to head to Guatemala on Saturday next week for talks with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei and to meet with Taiwanese expatriates, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. On April 3, Tsai is scheduled to travel
MEDIA, SOCIETY FOCUS: Doublethink Lab said that Beijing is trying to coerce countries that rely on China economically to pursue policies in its favor China has stronger influence over Taiwan’s media and society than any other country, the Taipei-based Doublethink Lab think tank said yesterday, as it announced its China Index gauging Beijing’s global influence. Taiwan ranked 11th overall among 82 countries assessed, but first in terms of social and media influence, Doublethink Lab chairman Puma Shen (沈伯洋) told a news conference in Taipei. More than 200 experts and academics participated in the project, including some highly influential figures, Shen said. The index collects information from countries worldwide to gauge China’s influence and assess how Chinese policies affect them, Shen said. In terms of Chinese
RSS