Taiwanese independence advocates protested in Taipei on Wednesday against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s alignment with China regarding Taiwan’s status.
Putin visited Beijing and met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Friday last week for the opening of Winter Olympic Games. A joint statement was later issued saying that the countries’ partnership had “no limits” and that Russia supports China’s claim to Taiwan.
Sim Kiantek (沈建德), convener of the self-proclaimed Provisional Government of Formosa, led protesters outside Russia’s de facto embassy, the Representative Office in Taipei for the Moscow-Taipei Coordination Commission on Economic and Cultural Cooperation.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Russia does not have the right to speak against Taiwan’s nationhood, Sim said, adding that Putin should support Taiwanese independence, as it is in Russia’s best interests to cooperate economically and politically with Taiwan.
Putin and Xi have been “deceived” by the Cairo Declaration, which is a “gross distortion of history,” he added.
“In the Atlantic Charter of 1941, US president Franklin Roosevelt and British prime minister Winston Churchill respected the sovereign rights and self-government of all peoples, including Taiwanese, and this principle was supported by Russia in a UN declaration in 1942,” Sim said.
Taiwan Republic Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) also spoke on the matter.
“We believe that Putin only agreed to the communique to satisfy Xi and support the Beijing Olympic Games,” Chen said.
“The communique from Xi and Putin is just a statement on paper. It has no international legal authority,” he said. “Taiwan is not part of China, and Taiwanese people are the master of this homeland, which outsiders cannot take away from us.”
A person surnamed Huang (黃) accepted a protest letter from the demonstrators on behalf of the office’s management, Sim said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
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
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS