Taiwan should reach out to countries that have extradition treaties with China or Hong Kong to prevent the handover of Taiwanese accused of “separatism” or other political crimes by Beijing, human rights activist Lee Ming-che (李明哲) said.
Lee, who was imprisoned in China from 2017 to April this year on a charge of subverting state power, was speaking at a news conference in Taipei to mark Human Rights Day. The event was hosted by Tibetan and Uighur groups, and the “Safeguard Defenders.”
During his incarceration, Lee met several Taiwanese who were imprisoned after being extradited from Spain in connection with telecom fraud, he said, adding that similar extraditions had been granted by Kenya and Malaysia.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
These extraditions went against a tacit understanding between Taipei and Beijing that Taiwanese would be repatriated to Taiwan for trial under the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement (海峽兩岸共同打擊犯罪及司法互助協議) signed in 2009, he said.
Beijing’s demand that foreign countries extradite Taiwanese to China compromises the national sovereignty of Taiwan and the extradited individuals’ right to a fair trial and humane treatment in prison, he said.
Following US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in August, China has ramped up pressure on Taiwan, including by authorizing criminal proceedings against pro-independence Taiwanese in absentia and without statutory limits, he said.
Citing an article by Chinese jurist Wang Yingjin (王英津) published in the state-run People’s Daily in August, Lee said that China could invoke mutual legal assistance treaties to target pro-independence Taiwanese in a third country.
That the paper carried the article suggests Beijing is seriously contemplating the strategy, which would endanger all Taiwanese transiting through China or traveling in a country that has an extradition treaty with Beijing, he said.
Lee urged the government to pre-empt China’s abuse of extradition treaties by taking up the issue via diplomatic channels and warning the public against traveling to countries that might comply with Beijing’s extradition requests.
Asked about a remark by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Deputy Chairman Sean Lien (連勝文) that the 2024 presidential election is a choice between peace and war, Lee said that Taiwan would have to acquiesce to Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula to obtain a guarantee of peace.
Taiwanese must decide if peace at the cost of concessions would be worthwhile, he added.
Separately, Lee said incumbent Taipei City Councilor Wang Hung-wei (王鴻薇) was a “disgrace to Taiwan’s national sovereignty” after she was accused of being a frequent guest on China Central Television’s political talk show Haixia Liangan (海峽兩岸).
Wang is running for the KMT in a legislative by-election for Taipei’s third electoral district.
She is one of many Taiwanese politicians who have appearead on a show that is no more than a propaganda segment for China’s “united front” work in Taiwan, Lee said.
Although Beijing is barred from directly controlling Taiwanese media, entrepreneurs who do business in China can be turned into its proxies, Lee said, adding that the public should be wary of media outlets run by figures with interests across the Taiwan Strait.
MILITARY BOOST: The procurement was planned after Washington recommended that Taiwan increase its stock of air defense missiles, a defense official said yesterday Taiwan is planning to order an additional four PAC-3 MSE systems and up to 500 missiles in response to an increasing number of missile sites on China’s east coast, a defense official said yesterday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the proposed order would be placed using the defense procurement special budget, adding that about NT$1 trillion (US$32,88 billion) has been allocated for the budget. The proposed acquisition would include launchers, missiles, and a lower tier air and missile defense radar system, they said The procurement was planned after the US military recommended that Taiwan increase
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS