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.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS