The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday condemned China for sentencing Taiwanese National Party cofounder Yang Chih-yuan (楊智淵) to nine years in prison for the crime of secession without an open trial or presenting substantial evidence.
“Both the government and Yang’s family refuse to accept such a ruling. We demand that Beijing disclose the verdict in writing immediately and explain the evidence used to support the ruling,” Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told reporters at a news conference.
The crime that Yang allegedly committed was living a life like the majority of Taiwanese, he said.
Photo: Chiu Shu-yu, Taipei Times
The purpose of the case is to frighten Taiwanese and for China to overreach its administrative authority in Taiwan, Liang said.
“The verdict has coincidentally proven that the 22 guidelines Beijing issued in July — allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death ‘Taiwan independence separatists’ — applies to all people in Taiwan,” Liang said.
“Any Taiwanese can be convicted as a ‘Taiwan independence separatist’ as long as Beijing wishes to,” he said
“While China uses a two-pronged strategy to lure Taiwanese to China, it has also used Internet celebrities and China sympathizers in Taiwan to amplify its appeals here. The purpose of these tactics is for Taiwanese to let their guard down,” he added.
Asked about Yang’s possible whereabouts, Liang said that he is likely in Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province, as he was on trial there, adding that the council would keep in close contact with Yang’s family.
Public records show that Yang did not return to Taiwan after leaving for China in January 2022.
In August of that year, a program on China Central Television showed that the Chinese Ministry of State Security officers in Wenzhou had summoned and questioned Yang after accusing him of having been engaged in “Taiwan independence” separatist activities for a long time and that he was suspected of endangering national security.
The Chinese Communists Party subsequently accused him of committing the crimes of secession and inciting secession for pushing for Taiwan’s independence.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
RSS