Sat, Nov 02, 2002 page2

• Activists take up defector's case

  LEGAL LIMBO A human rights group says Chinese dissident Tang Yuan-jun's request for political refuge has been hampered by the lack of an asylum law

  • By Jimmy Chuang / STAFF REPORTER
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  The Taiwan Association for Human Rights (台灣人權促進會) yesterday called for the passage of a political asylum law as it pressed the public to support a Chinese dissident who fled to Taiwan.

  The association held a press conference in Taipei yesterday morning to urge the government to speedily respond to Tang Yuan-jun's (唐元雋) request for political asylum.

  Tang, a 45-year-old automobile technician, has told authorities that he paid a fishing boat to bring him close to Tatan islet and then he jumped off and swam the last 50m to the island on Oct. 15.

  Tang immediately surrendered to soldiers on Tatan and told them he wanted to defect.

  The military then sent him to the Kinmen Prosecutors' Office for investigation. He has been detained at a secret military location ever since.

  "We understand the case could be complicated because we don't have an asylum law," said Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正), the association's president at the press conference.

  "This is a serious problem and we would like to bring it up. Political dissidents' interest in staying in Taiwan is a sign that this is a country of human rights. It would be a shame not to have a law to protect them," he said.

  Lin said that Tang's identity as a Tiananmen Square dissident had been confirmed by other dissidents who were there, such as Wang Dan (王丹) and Feng Tsung-te (封從德), from photographic evidence.

  Wang and Feng were both student leaders of the Chinese democracy movement that was crushed in Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989.

  Both were granted political asylum in the US.

  Lin said that he flew to Kinmen and met with Tang on Oct. 18 to make sure that the defector was both physically and mentally okay.

  "For security purposes, I cannot tell you where he [Tang] is now. This was also the agreement between us and the military," said Lin.

  "However, I can tell you that Tang is in good health," he said.

  According to Lin, Tang's plea for asylum has been in limbo for the past 17 days because Taiwan doesn't have an asylum law and the authorities haven't decided how to handle the case.

  He said prosecutors haven't completed their investigation of Tang either so there is no word yet on what charges, if any, he might face.

  Eminent human rights lawyer Kenneth Chiu (邱晃泉) said Tang could be charged with violations of the National Security Law.

  "However, he will still face a charge of illegal immigration no matter whether the government approves his request for political asylum or not," he said.

  Chiu urged the authorities to grant Tang's request for asylum, saying it would be "in keeping with current law."

  But, the lawyer added, "There is no question that we do need an asylum law. However, at this moment, Article 22 of our Constitution may be sufficient to approve Tang's request if necessary."

  Article 22 states that, "All other freedoms and rights of the people [than those listed in the preceding articles of the Constitution] that are not detrimental to social order or public welfare shall be guaranteed under the Constitution."
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