Human Rights

Hong Kong Protests Fueling Taiwan Independence, Says Acclaimed Taiwanese Director

Epoch Times
Date: August 18, 2019
By: Nathan Su

Youth in Taiwan supporting Hong Kong protesters. (Curtesy of Chen Wen-Pin)

Santa Clara, Calif.—The mass protests in Hong Kong, which erupted amid widespread fears that a controversial extradition bill would erode the city’s autonomy from mainland China, are having an impact on Taiwan, said acclaimed film director and former head of Taiwan’s Changhua County Cultural Affairs Bureau, Chen Wen-pin on Tuesday, August 13.

Chen’s comments were made at a meetup event organized by Northern California Taiwan Forum (NCTF).

Many Hongkongers fear that the proposal, which would allow China to seek extradition of criminal suspects, would enable the Chinese regime to place individuals on trial in the mainland, where rule of law is not observed.

Though the bill has been suspended due to public pressure, Hongkongers are still turning out every weekend to demand that the government fully withdraw the bill; investigate the police’s use of force in dispersing protesters; and enact universal suffrage in the city’s elections.    [FULL  STORY]

Chinese government loads surveillance app onto phones of visitors to Xinjiang: report

CNN
Date: July 3, 2019
By: Ben Westcott, CNN

Hong Kong (CNN)China's far-reaching security network is targeting tourists, with border guards secretly installing a surveillance app onto the phones of visitors to Xinjiang, according to a joint report by several major international media organizations.

If true, it would be the latest move to tighten surveillance in the heavily-repressed region, where the US State Department has estimated up to two million Muslim-majority Uyghurs are being held in detention camps.

There is a heavy police presence across Xinjiang and security cameras there are a common sight. From 2017, the Chinese government began to collect DNA and biometric data from millions of local residents.

The new joint investigation by organizations, including the Guardian and the New York Times, alleges the crackdown is now affecting visitors and tourists to the region. CNN has not been able to independently verify the report.    [FULL  STORY]

Thousands rally in Taipei to support HK

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 17, 2019
By: Ann Maxon  /  Staff reporter

A woman holds up a placard during a demonstration outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times

Thousands of people yesterday rallied outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, demanding that the Hong Kong government withdraw its controversial extradition bill and release protesters arrested in connection with demonstrations in the territory last week.

The rally organized by Hong Kong students, the Taiwan Citizen Front and the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy (TYAD), drew more than 10,000 people despite scorching heat, organizers said.

Although Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥) on Saturday said that the reviews of the bill in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council would be suspended, it was not withdrawn, said TYAD member Michelle Wu (吳奕柔), who is also president of the National Taiwan University Student Association.

If passed, the bill would allow anyone arrested in Hong Kong to be extradited to mainland China for trial, subjecting them to that nation’s notoriously opaque judicial system, she said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan unveils long-awaited gay marriage bill

Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party unveils a bill offering same-sex couples ‘permanent unions’ as well as limited adoption rights, despite stiff opposition from conservatives

Rappler
Date: May 11, 2019

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan’s ruling party unveiled its latest attempt to create Asia’s first gay marriage law on Thursday, May 9, a bill offering same-sex couples “permanent unions” as well as limited adoption rights, despite stiff opposition from conservatives.

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has had a stuttering and troubled journey towards delivering on their 2016 election promise to grant same-sex couples equal marriage rights.

In November, conservatives won a referendum against revising the island’s Civil Code to allow gay marriage, in a blow to President Tsai Ing-wen’s party and a stark illustration of the social divide caused by the issue.    [FULL  STORY]

Human rights proponents in Taiwan plead for public to vote in favor of equality

Delegates from religious groups and LGBTQ organizations held a joint press conference today

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/11/23
By: Ryan Drillsma, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Human rights proponents from various walks of life at today’s press conference (By Central News Agency)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Representatives from human rights committees and religious associations appealed to the public to support human rights and make the right decision during tomorrow’s vote in a press conference held today (Nov. 23) at the Legislative Yuan.

Hongshi Buddhist Cultural and Educational Foundation, True Light Gospel Church, Taiwan Hesed Association, Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association, and Equal Love Taiwan jointly held the conference entitled, “We are all one family, let’s build a loving Taiwan together” 我們都是一家人．共同打造慈愛台灣.

Ye Dahua (葉大華), a member of the Presidential Office’s Human Rights Consultative Committee and Secretary General of the Taiwan Alliance for Advancement of Youth Rights and Welfare was present and pleaded that we not forget the national commitment to upholding human rights we made, lest Taiwan’s progress on social issues be disrupted.

Turning the language of the anti-LGBT opposition on its head, Ye asked voters to think carefully about how we can create a friendlier environment for future citizens and ensure “the happiness of the next generation” when voting. Happiness of the Next Generation (下一代幸福聯盟) is, conversely, the name of the anti-marriage equality association that proposed the three referendums opposing LGBTQ rights.
[FULL  STORY]

MAC urges China to release Taiwanese activist after hearing

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/09/11
By: Lu Hsin-huei and Ko Lin

Taipei, Sept. 11 (CNA) The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Monday urged

CNA file photo

authorities in China to release Taiwanese human rights activist Lee Ming-che (李明哲) and to assure his safe return to Taiwan.

In a statement released late Monday after the hearing, the MAC commended China’s act of good will for allowing Lee’s wife and mother to attend his hearing in China, and it said the government will do everything it can to help Lee’s family to secure his release.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) also called on China to consider the impact Lee’s case would have on cross-strait relations and urged Chinese authorities not to make Taiwan-China relations even more tense than they already are.

The Taiwanese human rights advocate went missing after entering China via Macao on March 19, and he was later confirmed to have been detained by Chinese authorities.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan will help free Lee by all means: Presidential Office

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-09-11

Taiwan’s Presidential Office has responded to the news that human rights advocate Lee Ming-che has pleaded guilty to “subversion of state power” in China.

Presidential Office spokesperson Alex Huang said Monday that the government and the president have been monitoring the case and looking for ways to assist Lee’s family, with the primary goal of bringing him back to Taiwan.

“Actually, since the very beginning the president has been very concerned about this case, wanting to know about Mr. Lee Ming-che’s situation and his health,” said Huang. “She has continually brought up with various agencies, including the Mainland Affairs Council, things like offering assistance to the family, asking whether things can be sped up, and finding ways to get him back as soon as possible.”
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan democracy activist pleads guilty in Chinese trial

Lee Ming-Che is standing trial accused of subversion of state power, the first prosecution of a non-profit worker on criminal charges since Beijing passed a law tightening controls over foreign non-governmental organizations. (Taiwan Association for Human Rights via AP)

ABC News
Date: Sep 11, 2017
By: EMILY WANG, ASSOCIATED PRESS

A Taiwanese pro-democracy activist pleaded guilty Monday in a Chinese court to

The Associated Press
In this photo released by Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Lee Ching-yu, right, wife of detained Taiwanese activist Lee Ming-Che, poses for a photo with Wang Li-ping, a former Democratic Progressive Party lawmaker, before entering the Yueyang Intermediate People’s Court in south China’s Hunan province,

subverting the power of the state, but his wife dismissed the trial as “a political show” and his supporters said he had been forced to confess to crimes he didn’t commit.

Lee Ming-che’s trial marked China’s first criminal prosecution of a nonprofit worker since Beijing passed a law tightening controls over foreign non-governmental organizations.

Lee told the court in the central Chinese city of Yueyang that he had “spread articles that maliciously attacked the Communist Party of China, China’s existing system and China’s government.” He said he had also organized people and wrote articles “intended to subvert the state’s power.”

Subversion of state power is a vaguely defined charge often used by authorities to muzzle dissent and imprison critics. The court has not yet announced a punishment for Lee.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s Tsai urges Beijing to face June 4th Incident with open mind

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/06/04
By: Lu Hsin-hui and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, June 4 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has called for Beijing to face

CNA file photo of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文)

what she called the Tiananmen Square Incident — also called the June Fourth Incident — of June 4, 1989 with an open mind, and said Taiwan is willing to share with China its experiences in democracy transformation.

Tsai made the call in a Facebook post on Sunday, the day peaceful protesters were killed during a government crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in Beijing 28 years ago.

On that day, “a group of students and citizens challenged the reality of mainland China,” Tsai wrote, saying that their action enlightened a whole generation.
[FULL  STORY]

Entire Marine Corps battalion deployed in Taipei for first time

The China Post
Date: April 13, 2017
By: Joseph Yeh

TAIPEI, Taiwan — In a first, an entire Marine Corps battalion has been stationed in Taipei

Defense Minister Feng Shih-kuan (馮世寬) inspects an infantry battalion at the Political Warfare Cadres Academy at Fu Hsing Kang (復興崗) in Taipei on Tuesday, April 11. (Photo courtesy of the Ministry of National Defense)

as a precaution against a possible Chinese invasion of the capital.

The marines will stand alongside the Military Police’s 239th Battalion in Taipei’s Dazhi neighborhood as the two top teams responsible for counterattacks in the case of an invasion.

The infantry battalion of the New Taipei-based 66th Marine Brigade has been stationed at the Political Warfare Cadres Academy in Fu Hsing Kang (復興崗), in Northern Taipei’s Beitou District, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said late Tuesday.

There are currently marines stationed at military units in Taipei, but this is the first time an entire battalion has been assigned anywhere in the city.    [FULL  STORY]