Activists call for help for Chinese rights advocates
BEYOND ECONOMICS:The government should speak up about rights abuses in China, after a report said that 107 lawyers had been arrested, local activists said
By Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporter
Lawmakers, lawyers and human rights activists yesterday called on the government to help dozens of Chinese rights advocates who were arrested recently.
“There have been very frequent official interactions; however, the focus has been placed on economic activities, while the human rights aspect has been overlooked,” Taiwan Association for Human Rights Secretary-General Chiu Ee-ling (邱伊翎) told a news conference in Taipei yesterday.
“If Taiwan continues to keep silent on human rights abuses across the Taiwan Strait, what awaits us as far as human rights are concerned?” Chiu asked.
According to Weiquanwang, a Chinese-language Web site dedicated to human rights advocacy, as many as 107 human rights lawyers and dissidents were arrested from early Thursday morning up to 8am yesterday across China.
Eighty-five have since been released after questioning, seven are still being detained or are under house arrest, and 10 are missing, it said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇), in tears, said that “arresting these people is taking away China’s hope for the future.”
“These people know that they are at risk by getting involved in human rights issues. However, they continued to do their jobs and spoke out for the rights of Chinese,” Tien said.
“I would like to call on everyone to show more concern about human rights in China, as I believe that, there would be less harm when there is pressure from outside [the country],” she said.
Wellington Koo (顧立雄), an attorney and a long-time human rights advocate, said that the arrests of the lawyers are a warning for all.
“If lawyers can be arrested, everyone could be in trouble,” Koo said. “These lawyers only did their job as lawyers and fought for the rights of their clients. They were not out on the streets taking part in demonstrations deemed illegal by the government, and yet, they were arrested.”
Social Democratic Party legislative candidate Miao Po-ya (苗博雅), called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), currently on an official visit in the US, to make a statement, adding that “he should do more than hug a tree at Harvard University.”
The Mainland Affairs Council on Sunday called on Beijing to put into practice the universal concept of human rights protection in the wake of reports that scores of Chinese human rights activists have been detained by China’s public security agencies.
“Only by seeking a common ground and upholding human rights can the distance between Taiwanese and Chinese be bridged and a long-standing relationship between the two sides be further developed,” the council said.
The council added it is closely monitoring the development of human rights in China.
Additional reporting by CNA
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