Tafa Industrial Park protest march turns violent
　

By Shelley Huang
STAFF REPORTER, WITH CNA
Monday, Jan 19, 2009, Page 3
　

Demanding answers as to whether or not they would be compensated for suffering from toxic gas emissions, hundreds of angry residents from Kaohsiung County’s Taliao Township (大寮) protested at the Tafa Industrial Park yesterday.

Around 1:30pm, Taliao Township chief Huang Tian-huang (黃天煌) led between 200 and 300 residents on a march to the Tafa waste processing plant. The protesters demanded an apology from the plant and that each resident be compensated NT$100,000 for having been adversely affected by the gas leaks.

They also demanded the sewage factory be relocated and urged the industrial park to conduct an environmental impact assessment.

On Dec 1, an unidentified toxic gas sickened 82 students at Chaoliao Junior High School and Elementary School while they were in class. They were rushed to a nearby hospital after they began vomiting and complained they were feeling dizzy.

The poisonous gas affected villagers again on Dec. 12, Dec. 25 and Dec. 29.

Efforts to pinpoint the source of the leaks have so far failed. The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA), after conducting an analysis, said the source of toxic gas leaks may never be identified as there could have been multiple sources.

On Friday, nearly 2,000 residents of three villages in Daliao staged a protest in front of the Presidential Office to express their anger over the government’s inability to pinpoint the source of the leaks that have sickened children in the area.

Denouncing the government for its inability to protect them, the protesters said they believed that neither the EPA nor the industrial park wanted to resolve the problem and were keen to sidestep their responsibilities. Friday’s protest ended peacefully after Presidential Office Public Affairs Department Director Tsai Chung-li (蔡仲禮) accepted a petition from the villagers.

Yesterday’s protest, however, turned violent when protesters successfully broke down blockades that police had set up in front of the plant. Several protesters wearing helmets and armed with baseball bats and hammers, broke through the lines of police and began smashing the plant’s glass windows.

They were later arrested.

Amidst the pushing and shoving, a section chief at the park lost his helmet and suffered from concussion.

A television news reporter was also injured during the violent protests.

Huang Chun-rong (黃俊榮), section chief of the Tafa sewage plant, later addressed the protesters and said the company hoped that residents would give it time to deal with the matter.

After negotiation, the two sides agreed that the sewage plant would provide details of any relocation and possible compensation by 7pm on Wednesday.

Two-year old girl in China critically ill with avian flu

AP, BEIJING
Monday, Jan 19, 2009, Page 4

A two-year-old girl in northern China has tested positive for bird flu and is in critical condition — the second case of human infection in a month.

The girl fell ill on Jan. 7 in Hunan Province and was taken to a hospital by her grandparents four days later after she returned home to Shanxi Province, the Health Ministry said in a notice on its Web site late on Saturday.

Tests confirmed she was infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus, it said. It did not say how the girl, surnamed Peng, was infected or what she was doing in Hunan.

“The patient is in critical condition, and the health department of Shanxi Province is sparing no efforts” to save the girl, the notice said.

All the people who had close contact with the girl were under medical observation, the ministry said, and no one else has been found ill.

The case comes at a worrisome time for authorities as tens of millions of people are on the move between cities and rural hometowns for the Lunar New Year, which begins on Jan. 26. The Agricultural Ministry said it would step up checks before the holiday.

China, which raises more poultry than any other country, has vowed to aggressively fight the virus.

A WHO spokeswoman in Beijing said it was informed of the case and was staying in close contact with the Chinese Health Ministry.

Earlier this month a 19-year-old woman died from the bird flu virus in a Beijing hospital after contact with ducks in a market in a neighboring province, the first death from bird flu since February last year. The WHO said the case did not appear to signal a new public health threat.

Health officials worry the H5N1 virus could mutate into a form that could spread easily among people.

The latest WHO tally shows that bird flu has killed 248 people worldwide since 2003, including 21 in China. The young girl brings the total number of cases in the country to 32.

S Korean military on alert after N Korean statement
　

TACTIC: Some Korean experts say the strong message from the North was likely aimed at Washington ahead of US president-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration

AP, SEOUL
Monday, Jan 19, 2009, Page 4

South Korea said its military remained on alert yesterday a day after North Korea pledged “an all-out confrontational posture” in response to Seoul’s hardline stance against its communist regime.

The Korean People’s Army called the South Korean president a “traitor” and accused him of preparing a military provocation, a statement carried on Saturday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.

Pyongyang also warned of a “strong military retaliatory step” and South Korea immediately put its forces on alert.

A South Korean Defense Ministry official said yesterday the military would remain on alert, though there were no unusual moves by North Korean forces.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity citing department policy.

North Korea has issued similar threats in the past in anger over hardline policies implemented by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak since taking office.

South Korea denies taking a confrontational stance and has repeatedly called for dialogue with Pyongyang.

Koh Yu-hwan, a North Korea expert at Seoul’s Dongguk University, said North Korea’s saber-rattling could be a negotiating tactic aimed at Seoul and Washington ahead of the Tuesday inauguration of US president-elect Barack Obama.

South Korea, the US and three other nations have sought to coax North Korea — which detonated an atomic device in 2006 — to give up its nuclear program by offering aid for disarmament. The pact has been deadlocked over how to verify North Korea’s past nuclear activities.

A US nuclear expert said on Saturday following a trip to the North that Pyongyang told him it has “weaponized” 30kg of plutonium into warheads.

That much plutonium would produce four to five warheads, depending on the grade of plutonium, the specific weapon’s design, and the desired explosive yield, said Selig Harrison, director of the Washington-based Center for International Policy’s Asia program.

A wake-up call on Chinese espionage

Monday, Jan 19, 2009, Page 8

Any Taiwanese more than 30 years old will be familiar with the slogans “keep secrets and watch out for spies” and “communist spies are right beside you.” Such watchwords could once be seen in school textbooks and painted on walls everywhere, reminding Taiwanese to be on their guard against the Chinese communist threat.

This vigilance began to break down following the end of the Period of Mobilization for Suppressing Communist Rebellion in 1990 and all the more so since Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) became president last year. Spies have even been discovered in the Presidential Office and the case of alleged communist agents Wang Ren-bing (王仁炳) and Chen Pin-jen (陳品仁), though surprising, was not unforeseeable.

Hundreds of thousands of Taiwanese are visiting, doing business or living in China at any given time. Information flows freely, allowing China to pry into Taiwan’s affairs almost at will. While Wang’s political background is “pan-green,” his suspected accomplice, Chen, has “pan-blue” connections, so politicians on either side cannot point fingers. Wang entered service in the Presidential Office under the previous government.

China draws no line between “green” and “blue” when looking for collaborators. Lust and avarice are weaknesses common to all, and China knows how to exploit such foibles to the full. If Chinese intelligence agencies need to recruit informers, there are many means available — blackmail or bribery, money or sex. Now that Taiwanese have dropped their guard, they can easily take the bait and become pawns in China’s spy game.

As a result of the Ma administration’s pro-China stance, top Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) leaders are talking to China through the KMT-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) forum and KMT members are busier visiting Beijing than the Presidential Office in Taipei.

The difference between friend and foe is becoming increasingly blurred as an increasing number of the KMT rank and file follow their superiors’ lead. Anyone leaking secrets in the past would at least feel regret, but in future such behavior may instead be seen as justified and a means to improve cross-strait relations.

China used to rely on spies to obtain information on discussions and decisions made at KMT central committee meetings, but these days such information is widely reported. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office had to rely on information gathered by academics visiting Taiwan, but nowadays they simply call high Taiwanese national security officials. Because these officials often travel to China or receive Chinese visitors in Taiwan, the Chinese say they “feed at the table of both sides of the Taiwan Strait.”

Compared with the information legislators, party officials and high national security officials can reveal, the information allegedly passed on by Wang and Chen was pretty low-end. However, national policy trends and other information that top leaders give China to “promote cross-strait understanding” and “reduce cross-strait animosity” are seen as part of their official duties.

The Ma administration is planning to relax restrictions on civil servants visiting China and on Taiwanese diplomats having contacts with Chinese diplomats. The door is open wider, so if the recent spy incident can serve as a wake up call for the government, it could be a good thing.

Justice is dying

The imprisonment of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) was like an H-bomb exploding in Taiwan. It divided the country and brought back the nightmare of raucous battling between the pan-blue and pan-green camps. Apparent leaks of the investigation by the judicial authorities to talk show hosts and pan-blue media have fueled public hatred against the previous Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government.

The decision to throw Chen back in jail after changing judges in the middle of court proceedings was particularly bothersome.

On Jan. 11, several prosecutors directly involved in Chen’s case performed a skit in which a detainee raised her handcuffed hands and shouted “judicial persecution.” The audience, which included Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰), broke into laughter, mocking the former president.

This is no laughing matter. When he was visiting Central America six months ago, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) told media that Chen’s crimes reminded him of former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos. Many DPP officials were handcuffed and imprisoned even before the nature of their crimes was revealed. Chen was shown no respect as he was handcuffed in the open. After his 32 days in detention and a hunger strike, the court released him.

The prosecutors’ office chose not to challenge the ruling. Within 24 hours, prosecutors changed their minds and filed a protest. The court rejected the appeal and allowed Chen to remain free. This was followed by an avalanche of criticism by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators. The judge who had set Chen free was replaced and the new judge ruled against Chen on the assumption that he could flee the country or coerce his subordinates. He was therefore sent back to prison.

Taiwan was ruled under martial law for about four decades. For the past 20 years under presidents Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Chen, democracy gained a foothold. Despite harsh criticism from KMT-friendly TV stations and newspapers, Chen vowed he would rather resign as president than shut down one TV station. Taiwan’s press is ranked the freest in Asia and up until now we could expect that courts and prosecutors would respect due process.

With Ma and Wang, however, we see clear and open attempts to interfere with the judiciary. Obedient prosecutors just follow the example set by their superiors. It was unprecedented — and appalling — to see a minister of justice allow such a skit to be held.

There is no excuse for her behavior, even if she defended it by saying it was only for internal amusement.

Justice is dying in Taiwan. What is so disappointing is that too few law professors and teachers have been speaking out. What happened to all the intellectuals and the fair-minded people? Where are you?

One thing is certain, your rights and life will not be protected if there is no justice.

TIEN C. CHENG
Libertyville, Illinois

The freedom gap across the Strait is wide as ever
　

By Chen Lung-chu 陳隆志
Monday, Jan 19, 2009, Page 8

SINCE ITS ESTABLISHMENT in 1941, the US-based international nongovernmental organization for human rights Freedom House has devoted itself to research on and advocating democracy and freedom around the world. It now plays a crucial role in the fight for freedom in the international community.

Freedom House held the global release of its most important publication, Freedom in the World, in Taipei last Tuesday. There was a special significance behind the release in Taiwan: Aside from affirming the achievements over the years in terms of democracy and freedom that have made Taiwan one of Asia’s most dynamic democracies, Freedom House’s decision to release its report in Taiwan at this time may have been an indication that it is concerned with regression of freedom and rights in Taiwan and the challenges that this poses.

The report is based on evaluations of the political rights and civil liberties of 193 countries and 16 regions. Eighty-nine countries were listed as “free,” 62 as “partly free” and 42 as “not free.” Taiwan was listed as “free,” while China was listed as “not free.”

Looking at past ratings, we can see that Taiwan was not listed as a “free” country in 1973. In 1977, it became “partly free” and has been listed as “free” since 1997. Especially worthy of attention is that in 2006, Taiwan scored a 1 for both political rights and civil liberties, which placed it among the freest countries in the world.

This year, Taiwan scored a 2 for political rights and 1 for civil liberties, which means that Taiwan continues to be ranked as a free country. Despite this ranking, Freedom House still requested that the Taiwanese government work on freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and association, as well as judicial independence.

China, meanwhile, scored 7 — the lowest possible score — for political rights and a 6 for civil liberties. Freedom House criticized China for not fulfilling the promises it made to improve human rights when it was granted the right to host the Olympic Games. Freedom House also said that China was strengthening its control of the Internet and media as well as quelling religious freedoms, meddling in the judiciary and crushing human rights.

As Taiwan continues its way toward freedom and democracy, China belongs with the countries that are being left behind. Obviously, freedom is the biggest thing that separates China and Taiwan, and the Taiwanese people need to cherish and uphold the freedom that we have worked so hard to obtain.

Chen Lung-chu is president of the Taiwan New Century Foundation.