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Human rights should be added to ECFA:
forum
By Shih Hsiu-chuan
STAFF REPORTER
Wednesday, Jun 02, 2010, Page 1
A panelist attending a forum commemorating the 21st
anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre proposed yesterday to include the
protection of human rights of Taiwanese investors in China in a trade pact the
government seeks to sign with Beijing this month.
Hsu Szu-chien (蜍睟坻), an assistant research fellow at the Institute of Political
Science at Academia Sinica, said the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) should
demand the inclusion of a ※human rights clause§ in an economic cooperation
framework agreement (ECFA) with China when the deal is deliberated in the
legislature to ensure working conditions in Taiwanese-owned factories in China
are up to standard.
He said the DPP should play a more proactive role in enhancing cooperation with
civil society on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
※There is a growing civil society in China ... and it is growing strong because
of the emergence of the Internet,§ Hsu said.
He cited a recent case in which Zhao Zuohai (謯簋皀), a Chinese farmer, served 10
years of a 29-year sentence for murder. He was released and compensated for the
time he spent in jail after the authorities found that the man he had allegedly
killed was still alive.
Hsu said the news about the miscarriage of justice spread widely on the
Internet, forcing Chinese authorities to deal with the matter.
Other panelists urged the DPP to play a more active role in pushing China toward
democracy.
They also accused President Ma Ying-jeou (堜褙朐) and his 〝administration of siding
with the Chinese elite as the strength of grassroots organizations grows.
The forum was organized by the DPP＊s Department of International Affairs to
discuss human rights and democracy in China ahead of the 21st anniversary of the
Tiananmen Square crackdown on June 4, 1989, where hundreds, if not thousands, of
protesters are believed to have been killed by the Chinese military.
Tseng Chien-yuan (嚪呤磢), an assistant professor of public administration at Chung
Hua University, said younger Chinese have little knowledge about the massacre,
nor was it discussed in Chinese media.
※Beijing did not keep official records and people have refrained from talking
about it [openly],§ he said.
Ma has issued statements on the June 4 movement in the past two years that were
toned down from those of previous years. His administration last year urged
countries with poor human rights records to make improvements, without naming
China.
His Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) blocked a resolution in the legislature that
would have supported a Chinese apology and reassessment of the miscarriage of
justice surrounding the massacre.
※If Ma forfeits the chance to encourage the democracy and human rights movements
in China, it is tantamount to helping the Chinese authorities remove pressure to
democratize. China will then have more energy to oppress its democracy movement
and to exert united-front tactics toward it,§ Tseng said.
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