Lawmakers, lawyers and human rights activists yesterday called on the government to help dozens of Chinese rights advocates who were arrested recently.
“There have been very frequent official interactions; however, the focus has been placed on economic activities, while the human rights aspect has been overlooked,” Taiwan Association for Human Rights Secretary-General Chiu Ee-ling (邱伊翎) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
“If Taiwan continues to keep silent on human rights abuses across the Taiwan Strait, what awaits us as far as human rights are concerned?” Chiu asked.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
According to Weiquanwang, a Chinese-language Web site dedicated to human rights advocacy, as many as 107 human rights lawyers and dissidents were arrested from early Thursday morning up to 8am yesterday across China.
Eighty-five have since been released after questioning, seven are still being detained or are under house arrest, and 10 are missing, it said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇), in tears, said that “arresting these people is taking away China’s hope for the future.”
“These people know that they are at risk by getting involved in human rights issues. However, they continued to do their jobs and spoke out for the rights of Chinese,” Tien said.
“I would like to call on everyone to show more concern about human rights in China, as I believe that, there would be less harm when there is pressure from outside [the country],” she said.
Wellington Koo (顧立雄), an attorney and a long-time human rights advocate, said that the arrests of the lawyers are a warning for all.
“If lawyers can be arrested, everyone could be in trouble,” Koo said. “These lawyers only did their job as lawyers and fought for the rights of their clients. They were not out on the streets taking part in demonstrations deemed illegal by the government, and yet, they were arrested.”
Social Democratic Party legislative candidate Miao Po-ya (苗博雅), called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), currently on an official visit in the US, to make a statement, adding that “he should do more than hug a tree at Harvard University.”
The Mainland Affairs Council on Sunday called on Beijing to put into practice the universal concept of human rights protection in the wake of reports that scores of Chinese human rights activists have been detained by China’s public security agencies.
“Only by seeking a common ground and upholding human rights can the distance between Taiwanese and Chinese be bridged and a long-standing relationship between the two sides be further developed,” the council said.
The council added it is closely monitoring the development of human rights in China.
Additional reporting by CNA
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
RSS