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EU calls for moratorium on executions

BACKLASH:Some netizens said that the EU had no right to interfere in matters of national sovereignty, while others said that was just what China would have said

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 07, 2015
By: Shih Hsiu-chuan  /  Staff reporter

The executions of six death-row inmates on Friday triggered a statement from the EU

Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty members protest outside the Ministry of Justice building in Taipei on Friday. Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

Taiwan Alliance to End the Death Penalty members protest outside the Ministry of Justice building in Taipei on Friday. Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

calling for an immediate moratorium on capital punishment in Taiwan, which in turn prompted heated debate among netizens.

The EU issued the statement hours after the executions on Friday night, which brought the number of prisoners executed by President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration to 32 since April 2010, when Ma ended a four-year moratorium on the death penalty.

The EU called on Taiwan to “introduce an immediate moratorium on executions” as recommended by international experts in March 2013 following Taiwan’s first human rights report and as had been the case in Taiwan from 2006 to April 2010, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said.

“We recognize the suffering of the victims of the crimes involved and express our sincere sympathy to their families,” she said.     [FULL  STORY]

Dead fetus kept in fridge for over 2 months in Hualien

Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-05
By: CNA

A woman in Taiwan’s eastern county of Hualien has kept her stillborn fetus in her

The refrigerator where the fetus was stored, June 4. (Photo courtesy of Hualien County Police Bureau)

The refrigerator where the fetus was stored, June 4. (Photo courtesy of Hualien County Police Bureau)

refrigerator freezer for more than two months, police found Thursday.

A woman, identified only by her surname Liu, told police she put her over four-month-old dead fetus in the freezer at her home in Hualien some two months ago because she had no money and no idea how to deal with it.

The case was brought to light as the police were probing a lawsuit over an extra-marital affair. Police discovered that Liu, married with three daughters, became impregnated by a man at her work but miscarried when she was four months pregnant.

Liu took her stillborn fetus back home after it was determined by doctors at Mennonite Christian Hospital to be deceased.     [FULL  STORY]

Six convicts executed in Taiwan

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/05
By: S.Y.Liu and Lilian Wu

Taipei, June 5 (CNA) Six convicts who killed a combined nine people in cold blood

Lo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪)

Lo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪)

were executed on Friday, the Ministry of Justice confirmed.

Justice Minister Lo Ying-shay (羅瑩雪) signed the execution orders on Thursday for the six death row inmates put to death on Friday, the ministry said.

Three of the inmates were being held in Taipei prison and the others were incarcerated in Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung prisons.

It was the second time Lo approved the execution of death row convicts since she assumed her post in September 2013. She last signed an execution order in April 2014.     [FULL  STORY]

Visitors harming temple treasures: culture expert

BAD RITUAL:Wooden lions described as priceless and rare are not the only threatened artworks at New Taipei City’s Chingshui Zushi Temple, experts said

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 05, 2015
By: Chang An-chiao and Jake Chung  /  Staff reporter, with staff writer

Local history and culture experts in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽) called on

One of several carved lions at Chingshui Zushi Temple in New Taipei City’s Sansia District is pictured on May 24. Visitors have forced coins into its mouth, a practice that is believed to bring good luck, but has damaged the sculpture. Photo: Chang an-chiao, Taipei Times

One of several carved lions at Chingshui Zushi Temple in New Taipei City’s Sansia District is pictured on May 24. Visitors have forced coins into its mouth, a practice that is believed to bring good luck, but has damaged the sculpture. Photo: Chang an-chiao, Taipei Times

the Chingshui Zushi Temple to make sure temple visitors do not damage the site’s architecture.

An expert who wishes to remain anonymous said tourists and visitors are forcing coins into the mouths of wooden lions and damaging the sculptures.

The expert said the visitors wished to pray for good luck, but that their actions were selfish.

The expert said he asks visitors not to put coins in the sculptures’ mouths whenever he sees them doing so, adding that temple staff should do more to protect the sculptures.

Forcing coins into the artworks not only scratches the wood, but could also eventually break the sculpture, the expert said.     [FULL  STORY]

Hundreds remember Tiananmen massacre in Taipei

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/04
By: Christie Chen

Taipei, June 4 (CNA) Over 200 people attended a candlelight vigil in Taipei on

Hundreds remember Tiananmen massacre in Taipei

Hundreds remember Tiananmen massacre in Taipei

Thursday to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre and to voice support for political dissidents in China.

Participants, among them students from Taiwan, China and Hong Kong, lit candles at the event in front of National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing on June 4, 1989.

During the event, some participants held umbrellas aloft as a gesture of defiance against what they see as China’s suppression of human rights, freedom and democracy. The umbrella is a symbol of the Hong Kong pro-democracy movement that took place last year.     [FULL  STORY]

S Korea’s MERS efforts adequate but late: Taiwan CDC physician

Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-04
By: CNA

Chen Meng-yu, a physician at Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC), said

Dr Chen reports on the MERS situation in South Korea after her visit, Taipei, June 3. (Photo/CNA)

Dr Chen reports on the MERS situation in South Korea after her visit, Taipei, June 3. (Photo/CNA)

Wednesday on her return from South Korea that health authorities there have initiated adequate but belated measures against the spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

Chen, who was in South Korea for a week to observe the MERS situation there, said the country’s authorities took a week to initiate a number of measures after the first patients were hospitalized with the virus. Testing efforts, however, were inadequate, said Chen, who met with health officials and Taiwanese communities in South Korea to raise awareness of the MERS outbreak.

She said that when she arrived in South Korea on May 28, local media coverage of the MERS outbreak was sparse but picked up after the news of the second wave of infections broke.     [FULL  STORY]

Taipei city councilor quits legislative race

LASHED BY LIN:Chased out of the race, Liang Wen-chieh of the Democratic Progressive Party was praised by his new former rivals for keeping a promise to voters

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 05, 2015
By: Loa Iok-sin  /  Staff reporter

Taipei City Councilor Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) of the Democratic Progressive Party

Veteran political campaigner Lin I-hsiung, center, discusses the nomination for next year’s legislative campaign of Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Liang Wen-chieh at a news conference outside his residence in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

Veteran political campaigner Lin I-hsiung, center, discusses the nomination for next year’s legislative campaign of Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Liang Wen-chieh at a news conference outside his residence in Taipei yesterday. Photo: CNA

(DPP) yesterday announced that he would give up a legislative bid after veteran political campaigner Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) accused Liang of breaking a promise to voters by campaigning just months after being re-elected.

“After Lin repeatedly condemned me for running for legislator as a city councilor, I have decided to withdraw from the upcoming legislative election,” Liang told an afternoon news conference at the Taipei City Council building. “I made the decision not because I agree with Lin, but because his moves have caused friction among my supporters and I no longer know what I am fighting for.”

Liang said his decision to run had been justified, adding that winning a majority of legislative seats should be the party’s ultimate objective, and there is nothing wrong with nominating someone who has performed well and is experienced.     [FULL  STORY]

Tiananmen Square, 25 Years Ago

The Atlantic
Date: Jun 4, 2014
By: Alan Taylor

Twenty-five years ago today, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) violently cleared Beijing’s Tiananmen Square of protesters, ending a six-week demonstration that had called for democracy and widespread political reform. The protests began in April of 1989, gaining support as initial government reactions included concessions. Martial law was declared on May 20, troops were mobilized, and from the night of June 3 through the early morning of June 4, the PLA pushed into Tiananmen Square, crushing some protesters and firing on many others. The exact number killed may never be known, but estimates range from several hundred to several thousand. China’s censors are blocking Internet access to the terms “six four,” “candle,” and “never forget,” broadening extensive efforts to silence talk about the 25th anniversary of China’s bloody June 4 crackdown. Here is that story, in images and words. (Most of this photo essay was previously published on In Focus)

A Chinese man stands alone to block a line of tanks heading east on Beijing's Cangan Boulevard in Tiananmen Square, on on June 5, 1989. The man, calling for an end to violence and bloodshed against pro-democracy demonstrators, was pulled away by bystanders, and the tanks continued on their way.

A Chinese man stands alone to block a line of tanks heading east on Beijing’s Cangan Boulevard in Tiananmen Square, on on June 5, 1989. The man, calling for an end to violence and bloodshed against pro-democracy demonstrators, was pulled away by bystanders, and the tanks continued on their way.

[FULL STORY]    [BBC VIDEO]

Hong Kong ‘umbrella’ protest gives topical relevance to Tiananmen vigil

Reuters
Date: Jun 3, 2015
By James Pomfret and Clare Baldwin

Tens of thousands of people are due to attend an annual candlelight vigil in Hong

An accessory featuring a yellow umbrella, symbol of the Occupy Central movement, hangs on a Goddess of Democracy statue at the June 4th Museum in Hong Kong, China June 3, 2015, REUTERS/Bobby Yip

An accessory featuring a yellow umbrella, symbol of the Occupy Central movement, hangs on a Goddess of Democracy statue at the June 4th Museum in Hong Kong, China June 3, 2015, REUTERS/Bobby Yip

Kong on Thursday to mark Beijing’s Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989 as tension lingers in the financial hub from its pro-democracy protests last year.

More than six months since Hong Kong police demolished the last encampments of protesters agitating for full democracy in the city, the organizers of this year’s June 4 vigil are aiming to link the events, which is likely to antagonize China.

“Occupy was in a way a mini-June 4 for Hong Kong,” said city legislator and vigil organizer Lee Cheuk-yan, referring to last year’s Occupy Central protests.

“We should not separate our fight for democracy from that of China’s. We should link up the two and fight in unity.”     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan urges China to face historical reality of Tiananmen incident

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/03
By: Chou Yi-ling and Bear Lee

Taipei, June 3 (CNA) Taiwan called on China Wednesday to face the historical reality 201506030039t0001of the 1989 Tiananmen （天安門）incident by positively responding to the people’s appeals.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) made the call on the eve of the 26 anniversary of the 1989 incident during which China launched military suppression of the student-led democratic movement in Beijing.

Different estimates put the number of deaths from the military crackdown at between hundreds and thousands.

The top China policy planner, however, praised China for taking the initiative in an important meeting of the Communist Party of China last year to protect the people’ personal and political rights and the rights to property.     [FULL  STORY]