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.
BACK TO NORMAL? The move would be part of a gradual easing of curbs monitored by the CECC, which would retain the quarantine mandate if case numbers rise again The Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to next month reopen Taiwan’s borders to all visitors and lift the quarantine mandate for arrivals, provided the nation’s COVID-19 situation does not escalate. The changes are likely to take effect on Oct. 13 as part of a phased easing of border controls that is to start on Thursday next week when a negative polymerase chain reaction test result would no longer be needed, Cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) told a news conference. Arriving travelers would instead be given four rapid antigen home test kits, Lo said. The three-day quarantine requirement followed by four days of mandatory
‘NO SURRENDER’: A blockade or outlying island seizure would be an act of war, and China’s drills last month have emboldened Taipei in its response plans, an official said The Republic of China Army Command Headquarters has agreed to purchase 5,000 Kestrel close-range anti-armor missiles worth NT$400 million (US$12.63 million) from the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, according to the military’s latest arms purchase bid notice. The army asked the institute to complete the order within 13 months, a military source said on condition of anonymity. Kestrel missiles are designed to penetrate armored vehicles and are used in anti-surface warfare, as they feature optical sights and night vision, and can be operated in all weather conditions. The missile has a 400m range, or a 150m range when used for breaching brick
IF THE CHIPS ARE DOWN: The US secretary of state warned that a disruption to the supply of Taiwanese semiconductors would play havoc with the global economy If Taiwan were attacked, the global economy would face devastation, as that is where most of the world’s semiconductors are produced, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday. In an interview that aired on the 60 Minutes television program, Blinken was asked whether instability across the Taiwan Strait would be felt around the world. Blinken said that China has been increasingly aggressive against Taiwan, posing a threat to peace and stability in the region, while economically the world would feel the effects of such aggression. Blinken was interviewed for the program after meeting with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi
‘ABSURD’: UN Resolution 2758 expelled the Chiang Kai-Shek government without mentioning Taipei, something the Chinese minister did not acknowledge, Taipei said Taiwan yesterday criticized Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) for “intentionally misinterpreting” a 1971 UN resolution to misrepresent Taiwan’s status to the global community. In his address on Saturday to the UN General Assembly, Wang cited Resolution 2758 as a basis for Beijing’s claim that Taiwan is part of China. He said that Beijing considers Taiwan an “inseparable part of China’s territory since ancient times.” “Only when China is completely reunified can there be enduring peace across the Taiwan Strait... Any move to obstruct China’s reunification is bound to be crushed by the wheels of history,” Wang said. General Assembly Resolution 2758
RSS