Chinese dissident Chen Siming (陳思明) yesterday urged the government not to deport him back to China after he refused to board a plane at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport during a stopover on a flight bound for China.
Chen, who has been arrested multiple times in China for publicly commemorating the Tiananmen Square Massacre, said he hoped that the US or Canada would grant him political asylum.
He has been on the run since escaping China two months ago, Radio Free Asia quoted him as saying in a report.
Photo courtesy of a reader
The Mainland Affairs Council said it is working to resolve the matter with government agencies, but did not elaborate.
The dissident had been in Cambodia and Thailand before reports that Lu Siwei (盧思位), a Chinese human rights lawyer, had been extradited from Thailand, prompting him to flee, Radio Free Asia reported.
“Chinese public security’s efforts to harmonize is becoming increasingly cruel and insane,” Chen wrote on X yesterday in a post that has since been deleted.
“They have freely summoned and detained me without any care to the proper legal procedures, confiscated my cellphone and tried to have me tested for mental conditions,” he said, adding that he was forced to leave his country due to intolerable conditions.
In a video attached to the post, Chen asked the US and Canada to grant him political asylum, and urged Taipei to not deport him.
A resident of Hunan Province, Chen marked the anniversary of the massacre by holding a sign in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021. He was arrested each time.
Chinese authorities have detained Chen ahead of the massacre’s anniversary in the past few years, he said.
“I did not escape to benefit from the economic conditions in the US, but to avoid the absence of human rights, dignity and rule of law in China, which has shown no cause for hope,” he said.
Chen said that he does not want to bring “trouble” to Taiwan.
Hopefully, Taipei could sympathize with his bid for temporary sanctuary in Taiwan, as he does not have a US visa and Beijing revoked his passport.
Chinese human rights advocate Wang Jianhong (王劍虹) in May said that Chen had written online that he was about to be detained by Chinese public security agents and had refused to delete the post, resulting in threats of a prison sentence.
New School for Democracy chairman Tseng Chien-yuan (曾建元) yesterday urged Taipei to help Chen as it has done in similar cases.
The government has helped people fleeing from persecution in China to obtain asylum in a third country, Tseng said, citing the cases of dissidents Yan Kefen (顏克芬) and Liu Xinglian (劉興聯) in 2019.
Chen should have the same rights as someone with refugee status certified by the UN, Tseng said.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
AMENDMENT: Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of high-temperature days, affecting economic productivity and public health, experts said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is considering amending the Meteorological Act (氣象法) to classify “high temperatures” as “hazardous weather,” providing a legal basis for work or school closures due to extreme heat. CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) yesterday said the agency plans to submit the proposed amendments to the Executive Yuan for review in the fourth quarter this year. The CWA has been monitoring high-temperature trends for an extended period, and the agency contributes scientific data to the recently established High Temperature Response Alliance led by the Ministry of Environment, Lu said. The data include temperature, humidity, radiation intensity and ambient wind,
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
RSS