China is exploiting the passing of Buddhist master Hsing Yun (星雲) for political purposes, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday, rejecting accusations that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government refused to allow a Chinese delegation entry to Taiwan for Hsing Yun’s funeral tomorrow.
China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) earlier yesterday said that a 38-member Chinese delegation scheduled to attend the funeral was canceled at the last minute.
“The DPP disregarded basic humanitarian principles and rudely rejected the mainland’s delegation to Taiwan,” Zhu said.
Photo: Chung Li-hua, Taipei Times
The planned delegation would have been headed by former Chinese State Administration for Religious Affairs director Ye Xiaowen (葉小文) and TAO Deputy Director Long Mingbiao (龍明彪).
Five other TAO personnel, four officials from the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front Work Department and three officials from the TAO’s provincial-level agency would have also attended.
The MAC said that Beijing had not followed the mechanism to facilitate cross-strait visits and was wrongly blaming the DPP administration.
Photo: Chen Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
“When Chinese officials plan to visit Taiwan, they should follow protocol and provide their itinerary to the MAC, but we did not receive any messages from Beijing regarding attendance at the funeral,” a MAC official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The council on Friday denied Ye’s request to visit, saying that aside from evidence linking Ye to religious persecution and denial of religious freedoms, another factor was potential social disruption, as his visit for the 2009 World Buddhist Forum had sparked widespread protests.
Ye was denied entry to Taiwan mainly to ensure that Hsing Yun’s memorial service proceeds smoothly, the council said.
Long and other officials in the delegation did not utilize the appropriate MAC channels, and therefore were not granted permits to visit Taiwan, the MAC official said.
DPP Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) yesterday said that “China is using the death of Hsing Yun to conduct united front tactics and disseminate propaganda in Taiwan.”
“This is unethical and highly disrespectful by exploiting the passing of a major religious figure,” Wang said.
Taiwan People’s Party caucus whip Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠) called on Chinese authorities to avoid sensitive political matters during the funeral period, and urged the Chinese delegation to follow the MAC’s protocols to enter Taiwan.
The MAC welcomes other Chinese groups traveling to Taiwan for Hsing Yun’s memorial service, it said in a statement.
Taiwan has expedited approval of entry permits for about 120 people from China to attend the funeral, including relatives and family friends of Hsing Yun, delegations from Chinese Buddhist organizations, and Buddhist temple managers and other religious figures based in China, it said, adding that many of them arrived yesterday.
Hsing Yun, founder of the Kaohsiung-based Buddhist organization Fo Guang Shan, died on Sunday last week at the age of 95.
A memorial service is to be held at the Hsing Yun Cloud Dwelling Building tomorrow morning.
IMMIGRATION REFORM: The legislative amendments aim to protect the rights of families to reunify, and to attract skilled professionals to stay and work in Taiwan Foreigners who are highly skilled professionals, top-prize winners in professional disciplines, investment immigration applicants or have made special contributions to Taiwan can soon apply for permanent residency on behalf of their spouses and minor or disabled children after the legislature approved amendments to the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法). The amendments, which were proposed by the Ministry of the Interior and approved by the Executive Yuan on Jan. 12, aim to attract foreign talent to Taiwan and encourage them to stay. They would take effect once they are signed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). The amendments involved changing 63 articles, making it the biggest
FIRST STEP: Business groups in Taiwan welcomed the deal, which does not include tariff reductions at this stage, as they called for the elimination of double taxation Taiwan and the US yesterday signed an initial agreement under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade. The agreement was signed yesterday morning by Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Managing Director Ingrid Larson in Washington, the Office of Trade Negotiations in Taipei said. The ceremony was witnessed by Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) and Deputy US Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi. Taiwan and the US started talks under the initiative in August last year, after Taipei was left out of the Washington-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. “The deal that will be signed tonight is not only very historic,
Beijing yesterday blamed US “provocation” for an incident last week in which a Chinese plane crossed in front of a US surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea. The incident came at a time of frayed ties between Washington and Beijing over issues including Taiwan and the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon that flew over the US this year. “The United States’ long-term and frequent sending of ships and planes to conduct close surveillance on China seriously harms China’s national sovereignty and security,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning (毛寧) said when asked about the latest incident. “This
‘GLOBAL NETWORK’: The only way to deter a Chinese invasion is for the international community to unite in its resolve, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Lee said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Roy Lee (李淳) yesterday urged democratic nations around the world to not let Beijing dictate the definition of their “one China” policies, saying that they should increase cooperation with Taiwan to build a resilient democratic network. Lee made the remarks during his speech, titled “Ukraine and Taiwan: Why Global Unity Matters,” at the annual Bratislava Forum in Slovakia. “People in Taiwan have been paying close attention to the situation in Ukraine and admire Ukrainians for defending their homeland. They are [also] fighting for Taiwan and democratic countries around the world,” Lee told forum participants. “The international