The nation’s delegates to this year’s APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting should urge the establishment of an Asia-Pacific human rights court, civic groups said yesterday.
The delegates should also urge that Taiwanese who have gone “missing” in China be included on international rescue lists, the groups added.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) was on Tuesday tapped by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) to represent the nation at the meeting that begins on Friday next week via videoconferenceing.
Photo: CNA
Other delegation members include National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) and Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中).
At a news conference in Taipei, Economic Democracy Union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) said that personal liberty and safety is an important issue in the Asia-Pacific region and the delegates should propose the establishment of a human rights court.
This plan should be included in the APEC Post-2020 Vision, Lai said.
Taiwan Association for Human Rights secretary-general Shih Yi-hsiang (施逸翔) said that there are 402 cases of Taiwanese and Hong Kongers who have faced human rights infringements in China.
The cases include those of Taiwanese Lee Ming-che (李明哲) and Lee Meng-chu (李孟居), and that of 12 Hong Kongers who tried to travel to Taiwan to seek political asylum, but were detained in Shenzhen, China.
Lee Ming-che was detained on March 19, 2017, after entering China from Macau. He used to work for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and was a staff member at Wenshan Community College in Taipei, as well as a volunteer at the non-governmental organization Covenant Watch.
He was convicted of subversion of state power in September 2017 and sentenced to five years in prison
Activist Morrison Lee (李孟居) traveled to Hong Kong in August last year and attended anti-extradition bill protests, with plans to travel to Shenzhen for business two days later. He was later confirmed to be detained by the Chinese government on grounds of being a “threat to state security.”
Taipei Bar Association human rights committee chairman Wang Lung-kuan (王龍寬) said that commerce and human rights should not be treated as separate issues.
If a country does not guarantee the safety and uphold the rights of foreign businesspeople, they might stop coming to do business there, Wang said.
Independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) said that there is evidence suggesting that China does not only target Taiwanese and Hong Kongers, but potentially all foreigners.
If the Asia-Pacific region wishes to prosper and see positive integration of the region’s many economies, personal liberties and basic human rights must be guaranteed, he added.
“We in Taiwan are comparatively progressive in our views on democracy, liberties and human rights, even though there is room for improvement,” Lim said.
Many of those who face oppression in China are looking to Taiwan to give them a voice, Lim said, adding that Taiwan should assume this role in the region.
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