Workers’ groups and the Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP) yesterday condemned remarks by former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) praising China’s Xinjiang policy.
The Taiwan Labor Front, in a news release, called on the government to ban cotton and other agricultural products made by forced labor in Xinjiang, and urged the Ministry of Economic Affairs to check imports of Xinjiang cotton by Taiwanese textile and garment companies.
It condemned Hung’s remarks that the US and other countries had fabricated lies about Chinese repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang.
Photo: AFP / The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation
Hung made the remarks while on a Chinese government-sponsored visit to Xinjiang this week.
The Taiwan Statebuilding Party also issued a statement denouncing Hung’s whitewashing of Beijing’s actions, describing it as a renewed cooperation between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the KMT to exterminate Uighur Muslims — similar to the atrocities the two parties had committed in the past.
“We would like to ask the KMT: Do you support China committing genocide against Uighurs?” the statement said.
As a former KMT chairperson, Hung still represents the voice of the party’s conservative faction, it said.
“Hung’s remarks endorsing Beijing’s conduct and programs in Xinjiang have been played up by Chinese state media to cover up Chinese atrocities and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang,” it said.
The statement also asked KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) whether the KMT holds the same view as Hung.
“Does the KMT also think that the internment camps in Xinjiang are fabrications by Western countries?” it said.
“Foreigners who are not familiar with Taiwan’s history and the political situation between Taipei and Beijing might think that Hung’s stance is representative of Taiwan’s largest opposition party to support China’s policy in Xinjiang,” the statement said.
“So we are seeing the KMT walk in lockstep with China, and closely identifying with the values and political ideology of Chinese communists,” it said.
“Looking at the KMT’s history of human rights abuses and atrocities in Taiwan, we believe such a party is no longer qualified to participate in local politics — that it should no longer be a choice for Taiwanese voters,” Taiwan Statebuilding Party officials said.
Hung has visited several places in Xinjiang during her China trip, including visiting a “Xinjiang Antiterrorism and Deradicalization Struggle Exhibition” in Urumqi on Tuesday.
“Xinjiang is a harmonious, joyful, diverse and inclusive society,” Hung was quoted as saying by the Chinese state news outlet China Daily.
“The US and some Western countries have fabricated lies about the so-called ‘forced labor’ and ‘genocide’ in Xinjiang to undermine China’s internal unity,” she said.
“People in Xinjiang once suffered great harm from terrorism and extremist ideologies... The anti-terrorism and deradicalization measures that Xinjiang has adopted have helped those once poisoned by extremist ideologies to gain a correct understanding of law and religion, and improve the living standards of their families through learning skills,” Hung said, endorsing China’s policies of internment and “re-education” of Uighurs.
Governments and human rights groups have over the years condemned and called for investigations of the situation in Xinjiang. The issue came to the fore again on Tuesday with the release of the Xinjiang Police Files, a cache of documents and photographs showing Chinese leaders’ involvement in the repression of Uighur Muslims in internment camps in Xinjiang.
US Department of State spokesman Ned Price said at the time: “We are appalled by the reports and the jarring images of China’s internment camps... It further adds to an already damning body of evidence of the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China’s] atrocities in Xinjiang.”
The leaked materials are believed to have come from the public security bureau of two districts in Xinjiang, which were hacked and then shared with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and media organizations.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or