The Taiwan Statebuilding Party yesterday threw its support behind Hong Kong protesters and rights advocates whose personal information had been revealed by the “HK Leaks” Web site, which has also leaked personal data of Taiwanese who support the protests.
Foreign media last month reported that the Web site has been leaking personal information about Hong Kong residents, journalists and politicians taking part in the pro-democracy protests.
Taiwan Statebuilding Party spokesman Yen Ming-wei (顏銘緯) at a news conference outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei asked the government to investigate the leaking of Hong Kongers’ personal data ostensibly gathered in Taiwan before being sent to Hong Kong and Chinese authorities.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
“The site HK Leaks has been compiling a database on Taiwanese leaders and activists. From what we know, there are Chinese who came to Taiwan posing as journalists and academics, but they are here for espionage and to collect information on Taiwan’s political, business and media circles,” Yen said.
“We demand our government to investigate and give the public an account of how many Chinese spies and intelligence operatives are conducting work in Taiwan,” he said.
Two women said they have been subjected to online bullying and death threats since the site last month revealed their date of birth, home address, e-mail, telephone number and other private information.
One of them was identified only as Nancy, founder of the EyeNews (獨眼新聞) Facebook page supporting the protesters, and the other was a Hong Kong student Zoey Leung, who is currently in Taiwan.
“I have received very disturbing messages, including threats to rape me and then kill me, while another person wrote that I will become another dead body found floating in the sea,” Nancy said.
The Web site published “a photograph from my passport, which must have come from customs officers when I entered Hong Kong. The site also had information on the places I visited and people I met with, which shows that I had been followed everywhere and put under surveillance when I was in Hong Kong,” she said.
“Hackers cannot get this kind of information from online sources, it was done by state authorities and intelligence agencies, and in collaboration with the Chinese government,” she added.
Leung told reporters that people who knew her home address had threatened to kill her, after she and other advocates were labeled “a member of the mob” by the Web site.
She thanked Taiwanese who have supported the protests.
“We hope the Taiwanese government can set up an official mechanism, which can grant political asylum for Hong Kong activists whose lives are in danger for them to resettle in Taiwan,” Leung said.
The Web site also released information about eight Taiwanese who supported the protests, including Statebuilding Party Chairman Chen Yi-chi (陳奕齊), Taiwan Citizen’s Front founder Chiang Min-yen (江旻諺) and Taiwan Association for Human Rights secretary-general Chiu Ee-ling (邱伊翎).
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS