The legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee yesterday passed motions condemning China’s “long-arm jurisdiction” over Taiwanese and refuting its misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758.
The motion, put forth by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, said that actions by China’s provincial governments, which offered cash bounties for information leading to the arrest of alleged psychological operations officers in Taiwan, amounted to provocation and a serious violation of Taiwan’s sovereignty.
China “has no jurisdiction” over the people of Taiwan, the motion said, adding that Taiwan would never allow Beijing’s attempts at “long-arm jurisdiction.”
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The motion was initiated by DPP Legislator Wang Ting- yu (王定宇), convener of the committee, and endorsed by three other DPP lawmakers.
The motion was passed unanimously by the six committee members who attended the session, while seven members from the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party did not attend.
The motions stemmed from a notice issued on Oct. 11 by the public security bureau of Xiamen, publicizing the names, photographs and identification card numbers of 18 people it alleged to be “core members” of a “psychological warfare unit” within the Taiwanese military.
In the public notice, the bureau offered a cash reward of 10,000 yuan (US$1,407) to anyone who could provide information that would lead to the arrest of the 18 Taiwanese wanted for “separatist activities.”
China on June 5 also offered similar bounties for information that would help with the arrest of 20 Taiwanese it deemed to be “military hackers.”
The legislative committee on Wednesday last week also passed a motion condemning a criminal investigation being carried out by China into DPP Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) on allegations of “secession-related” criminal activities deemed to be advocating Taiwanese independence.
Meanwhile, during the session yesterday, the committee also unanimously passed another motion initiated by Wang, condemning China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758, adopted in 1971, which Beijing has used as the basis for its sovereignty claims over Taiwan.
The motion states that the UN Resolution 2758 only addresses the issue of China’s representation in the UN, and the full text does not mention Taiwan.
It said UN Resolution 2758 does not recognize Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), nor does it authorize the PRC to represent Taiwan in the UN, adding that it is not equivalent to China’s claimed “one China” principle.
“The Republic of China (Taiwan) is a sovereign and independent country, it is not subordinate to the PRC,” the motion said. “Only Taiwan’s democratically elected government has the legitimacy to represent the Taiwanese people in international organizations such as the UN.”
Additional reporting by Huang Ching-hsuan
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