A visiting US-based Chinese human rights advocate on Sunday urged Taiwanese to better understand authoritarianism in China, after observing the outcome of Saturday’s recall elections against 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers.
Sophie Luo Shengchun (羅勝春), the wife of jailed Chinese human rights lawyer Ding Jiaxi (丁家喜), said that witnessing the elections firsthand reminded her of how precious and resilient Taiwanese democracy is.
“If people do not understand China’s authoritarianism, they cannot truly appreciate Taiwan’s freedom,” she said, recounting her experience of being forced to flee China due to the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of her husband.
Photo courtesy of the New School for Democracy via CNA
Luo made the remarks at a post-election news conference hosted by the Taipei-based New School for Democracy, which invited several overseas Chinese human rights and democracy advocates to Taiwan to watch the recall election.
The CCP’s “suppression of free speech, arbitrary detention, torture and acts of genocide are serious threats that the democratic world should remain highly vigilant against,” she said, urging Taiwanese to gain a deeper understanding of the situation in China.
Saturday’s recall election, which targeted 24 KMT lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安), ended with none of the recall motions succeeding.
A second round of recall votes targeting seven KMT lawmakers is scheduled for Aug. 23, alongside a referendum question on restarting a nuclear power plant.
Luo also talked about how her husband and activist Xu Zhiyong (許志永) were sentenced in 2023 to 12 and 14 years in prison respectively for “subversion” of state power after holding a private meeting on China’s political future.
The case, seen as a severe crackdown on China’s civil society, drew international condemnation at the time.
Wester Yang (楊若暉), public affairs director of the overseas Chinese student group Assembly of Citizens, said Taiwan’s open environment shows how valuable freedom is.
“Even the air here feels fresh,” he said, adding that China’s influence operations in Taiwan is not fictional, but a “bloodless yet profound silent war.”
Yang called on Taiwanese to remain vigilant and to support global efforts for human rights and democratic transformation in China.
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