China needs to improve its human rights, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday, adding that global anti-China sentiment would last for the next 15 years.
Ko was responding to reporters’ questions about a recent Xinjiang cotton controversy.
Swedish fashion retailer H&M faced a backlash in China when social media users circulated a statement it made last year announcing that it would no longer source cotton from Xinjiang due to reports that Uighurs were being used as forced labor there.
Photo: Cheng Ming-hsiang, Taipei Times
Several global retail giants, including Adidas, Nike, Puma and Uniqlo, also face boycotts in China over the issue.
Many Chinese artists, as well as Taiwanese artists who were brand ambassadors, have terminated their contracts with the companies as a show of support for China.
“The trade war between the US and China will certainly continue, but China still has to improve its human rights” record, Ko said.
“Anti-China sentiment will still be a global trend for the next 15 years,” he added.
“I don’t know what China is trying to do,” but Taiwanese are not happy with whatever China is doing to the nation, including its unilateral decision to ban imports of pineapples from Taiwan, frequently having Chinese aircraft enter Taiwan’s air defense identification zone and not allowing Taiwan to enter the WHO, Ko said.
Separately, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), who was pictured wearing a pair of avant-garde Nike x Sacai VaporWaffle sneakers in an online post last month, was asked whether he would continue wearing Nike shoes.
He responded that he did not feel the need to stop.
“Human rights is a universal value, so many countries are very concerned about the forced labor of Uighurs and other Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region and their human rights. Chinese authorities should explain the situation and clarify their concerns, rather than stir up nationalism as its response to global society,” he said.
On Saturday, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said on Facebook that “freedom, democracy, human rights and prosperity are the principles and values that the KMT holds in its view on cross-strait and international controversies.”
“Whether it be the Han people, Uighurs or other ethnic minorities, labor rights and religious rights should be guaranteed and respected,” he said.
People in Taiwan have very limited knowledge about what is happening in Xinjiang, so Chinese authorities and the parties concerned should make information transparent, enabling more people to understand the working and living conditions of cotton farmers in Xinjiang, which would help resolve the debate, he said.
Stirring up nationalist rhetoric or reprimanding or boycotting others is not helpful, nor can it help improve the human rights, and living and labor conditions of Uighurs, he said.
Additional reporting by Lin Liang-sheng
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
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
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