Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) yesterday departed for the Netherlands despite threats against him by Beijing.
China’s Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau late last month listed Shen as “wanted” and launched an investigation into his alleged “secession-related” criminal activities in Taiwan, including his founding of Kuma Academy, a civil defense organization that tries to prepare Taiwanese on what to do in the event of an invasion by China.
The probe is being carried out under China’s Criminal Law and the judicial guidelines introduced last year on penalizing “Taiwan independence separatists.”
Photo: Taipei Times
A Chinese legal expert said on the state-run China Central Television that Shen should be pursued through Interpol and other mutual judicial assistance agreements with foreign countries.
The legislative Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Wednesday passed a DPP motion condemning the probe into Shen, saying that the Chinese Communist Party “has no jurisdiction” over the people of Taiwan.
The 209th Executive Committee Meeting of Liberal International (LI) started yesterday and ends tomorrow in The Hague, Netherlands.
According to the official agenda, Shen is scheduled today to attend a panel discussion titled “Defending Democracy in an Era of Political Manipulation,” organized by LI’s Human Rights Committee.
The session is scheduled to be chaired by Canadian political operative and LI Human Rights Committee vice chair Claudia McCoy.
Shen is to appear alongside Pavle Grbovic, leader of Serbia’s Movement of Free Citizens, and Bart Groothuis, a European Parliament member from the Netherlands, to jointly explore how to respond to information warfare and infiltration by authoritarian forces.
Shen and DPP Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) are also scheduled to attend a joint conference titled “Indo-Pacific and European Security: Developments, Issues, and Challenges,” co-organized by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, and the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats tomorrow afternoon.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
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