US national Lynn Miles' move to burn his passport on March 21 in front of the de facto US embassy drew limited media attention compared with other anti-war protests in Taipei since mid-February.
Unlike many peace activists, the man with white whiskers and an austere outfit carried no anti-war banners nor did he shout pro-peace slogans when he appeared on Hsinyi Road for his solemn act, accompanied by less-than-a-dozen friends.
Miles' one-man protest included soft drum beating, meditation, a slow verbal delivery of his anti-war stance and the burning of his wrinkled passport on the ground amid scattered petals of rhododendrons.
Even when his friend Reuben BenYuhmin joined him to recite an anti-war poem as Miles burnt his passport, BenYuhmin's performance was neither showy nor pompous, echoing Miles' seemingly moderate appeal.
It was not until his old friends highlighted Miles' links to Taiwan's democracy movement decades ago that his longstanding commitment to human rights was revealed.
"Miles was involved in pushing for human rights in Taiwan earlier than me by engaging in rescuing political prisoners," said Linda Gail Arrigo at the small anti-war demonstration.
"I've known him for 26 years. He devoted himself to safeguarding Taiwan's human rights nearly 30 years ago when he was in Osaka, Japan," Arrigo, a woman of US origin who formed strong ties with Taiwan and its democracy movement, said in Mandarin.
"He cares about not only human rights in Taiwan, but elsewhere," Arrigo said.
Cofounder of the International Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Taiwan, Miles was also a member of the Japan section of Amnesty International in the 1970s.
Miles worked closely with Osaka City University professor Kawakubo Kimio and his associates to ensure that Taiwan would remain on the Amnesty agenda, while putting materials on Taiwanese political prisoners into the hands of politicians, journalists, church leaders and concerned individuals in Japan.
With help from Miles, Arrigo secretly collected evidence of human-rights abuses in Taiwan and passed it on to countries such as Japan and the US in an attempt to put international pressure on the then authoritarian KMT regime.
"Due to Amnesty International's efforts, backed by its ability to tap into an ever-expanding roster of information sources, many prisoners in Taiwan had their sentences reduced or their conditions otherwise ameliorated," Miles said in an article written in 2000.
Miles was blacklisted from 1971 to 1996 by the KMT government for his close ties with Taiwan's opposition movement.
Even his old friend Chen Wan-chen (
"When Peng Ming-min (
Peng, now national policy adviser to President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen, in her note, recognized Miles' courage to burn his US passport, while wishing him success in promoting his anti-war agenda.
Like Chen, many of Miles' "friends" from the DPP government, to whom he lent a hand when they were imprisoned or blacklisted for their challenges to the authoritarian KMT regime, didn't show up to back up his anti-war gesture.
The government has shown little in the way of anti-war sentiment, with most officials staunch supporters of the US in its drive for regime change in Iraq.
Miles showed little displeasure toward his friends in the government, saying only that some of them had urged him not to take the drastic move of burning his passport.
Miles, from New York City, stressed his sympathy for the innocent people who will be victimized by the US-led war in Iraq.
"My thoughts are first for the children of the world, including my own, and including the children of the soldiers of both sides, Iraqi and American, who will soon been orphaned," Miles said in a statement entitled "Burning for Peace: Why I destroy my US passport."
"My heart goes out also to the families of the 500,000-some Iraqi children that UNICEF estimates died between 1991 and 1998, thanks not only to the bombing of hospitals and water purification facilities, but also as a result of the cruel economic sanctions," Miles said.
Miles, who served at the human rights and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) desk at the DPP's department of international affairs in 1996, also criticized the views of many Taiwanese.
"It is blind folly to continue to regard the US as a dependable ally. ... If the ruling circles are willing to think of Americans as expendable in their grasping for material riches -- oil, the arms trade -- then what makes you think that they will stand with you in your hour of need?" said Miles, who now works for the office of the vice president on a project basis.
Although burning one's passport does not lead to the automatic renouncement of one's US citizenship, Miles must reapply for his passport if he intends to return to the US to see his wife, who is ill.
But the human-rights activist in his no-nonsense tone said he would only consider reapplying for one after the war comes to an end.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS