Hong Kong Outlanders yesterday in Taipei called on Beijing to immediately release Next Digital founder Jimmy Lai (黎智英), as closing arguments in his trial continued.
The civic group, formed by Hong Kongers in Taiwan, held a street rally in Taipei’s Ximending (西門町) shopping district in support of the pro-democracy advocate, who has been imprisoned for more than 1,700 days on charges of colluding with foreign forces, under Hong Kong’s National Security Law.
Taiwanese human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲), who was detained in China and sentenced to five years in prison for “subversion,” said Beijing had imposed Hong Kong’s National Security Law to ensure direct control over politically sensitive cases.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The law stipulates that any case deemed to endanger national security must be heard by judges designated by the chief executive of Hong Kong, he said.
Lai’s case concerns freedom of speech and was destined to receive disproportionate scrutiny and unfair treatment under the pretext of “national security,” he said, adding that while trial by jury is a longstanding legal tradition in Hong Kong, it has been barred in Lai’s case for that very reason.
Although Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeals in 2022 granted Lai the right to hire an overseas barrister, the government subsequently requested a legal interpretation from the National People’s Congress Standing Committee in Beijing, which overruled the court’s decision, Lee said.
Hong Kong’s fundamental judicial independence was “entirely obliterated” when an executive body was able to overturn a court ruling without being subject to judicial review, he said.
Lai has been kept in solitary confinement for more than 1,700 days, but the Hong Kong government said he was isolated “because he asked for it,” he added.
According to the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, or the Nelson Mandela Rules, solitary confinement should be used only in exceptional cases as a last resort, but prolonged solitary confinement lasting for more than 15 consecutive days amounts to cruel punishment and should be prohibited, he said.
Taiwan-Hong Kong Association director-general Sang Pu (桑普) said he knows Lai and had asked him where he would go if forced to leave Hong Kong.
“Taiwan,” Sang cited Lai as saying.
When Sang asked if he wished to leave with him, Lai said: “No. I am a captain, and a captain would not abandon his ship.”
Lai seeks to build a democratic China and a democratic Hong Kong, Sang said.
That would not affect his love and support for Taiwan, nor his opposition to Chinese Communist Party rule over Taiwan, he said.
Although Beijing considers Lai’s case a felony and may impose severe penalties, there remains a silver lining, Sang said, urging Taiwan and the international community to continue speaking out and pressing for Lai’s release.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
RSS