Taiwan should be concerned over potential breaches of human rights and national security ramifications after a Hong Kong court-appointed liquidator sought permission to order Taiwan-based Apple Daily and Next Magazine to turn over all of their assets, the Economic Democracy Union said yesterday.
The union, a consortium of non-governmental organizations, urged the government in Taipei to take immediate action to ensure that Hong Kong’s National Security Law would have no foothold in Taiwan.
Hong Kong courts are nothing more than a rubber stamp for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and the liquidator could function as a “fixer,” representing the CCP in Taiwan, union member Chiang Min-yen (江旻諺) told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
The union urged the government and the public to pay attention to the issue, which it said could seriously infringe on privacy rights, and harm press freedom and national security.
The Ministry of Culture should issue an administrative order restricting Apple Daily and Next Magazine from turning over personal information to the liquidator, the union said.
Until authorized by courts here, the Ministry of the Interior should not allow the liquidator to pass through customs and operate in Taiwan, the union said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs should annul Hong Kong-based Next Digital’s registration of its Taiwan operations, it said.
The situation is still pending a decision, with the court in Hong Kong to meet on Dec. 15, union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) said, adding that the appointment of the liquidator was a unilateral decision that was not witnessed by Next Digital’s legal representatives.
The Code of Civil Procedure (民事訴訟法) says that Taiwan’s courts can decline to enforce rulings made in foreign courts, Lai said.
The demands would exceed the liquidator’s authority, as turning over opinion and commentary pieces would be unnecessary, with such an order demonstrating clear political motives, he said.
Taiwan’s Apple Daily and Next Magazine are not direct subsidiaries of Next Digital, so the liquidator should provide a legal basis showing that Next Digital owns and controls the Taiwan-based newspaper, he said.
Taiwanese courts have not examined the liquidator’s demands, so Apple Daily would be within its rights to ignore them, he said.
Taiwan Citizen Front member Hsu Kuan-tse (許冠澤) said that Next Digital’s assets have been frozen and its offices raided by Hong Kong police, which are acts of political oppression by Beijing.
Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai (黎智英), Next Digital chief executive officer Cheung Kim-hung (張劍虹) and five other top executives are serving prison terms, proof that Beijing is waging a war against free press within its borders, Hsu said.
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
CHINA POLICY: At the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China, the two sides issued strong support for Taiwan and condemned China’s actions in the South China Sea The US and EU issued a joint statement on Wednesday supporting Taiwan’s international participation, notably omitting the “one China” policy in a departure from previous similar statements, following high-level talks on China and the Indo-Pacific region. The statement also urged China to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait. US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino cochaired the seventh US-EU Dialogue on China and the sixth US-EU Indo-Pacific Consultations from Monday to Tuesday. Since the Indo-Pacific consultations were launched in 2021, references to the “one China” policy have appeared in every statement apart from the
More than 500 people on Saturday marched in New York in support of Taiwan’s entry to the UN, significantly more people than previous years. The march, coinciding with the ongoing 79th session of the UN General Assembly, comes close on the heels of growing international discourse regarding the meaning of UN Resolution 2758. Resolution 2758, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1971, recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the “only lawful representative of China.” It resulted in the Republic of China (ROC) losing its seat at the UN to the PRC. Taiwan has since been excluded from