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.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one