Ma not sincere in reconciliation efforts, DPP says
　

By Rich Chang
STAFF REPORTER
Thursday, Jul 16, 2009, Page 1
　

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) accused President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday of insincerity in promoting reconciliation with victims of political persecution.

Ma’s paying tribute to dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and planning to change the name of the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall back to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall showed that the Ma government has never reviewed the massacre conducted by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Tsai said.

“When Ma bows and sheds tears in front of the body of the main culprit [Chiang], he rubs salt in the wounds of victims of the 228 Incident and the White Terror,” Tsai said at a ceremony to commemorate victims of the two events.

The ceremony, organized by the DPP, took place at the main entrance of the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall under the Liberty Square archway.

The former DPP government renamed the memorial in 2007 as part of its efforts to remove symbols commemorating Chiang. The DPP also replaced the inscription on the hall’s entry arch, dazhong zhizheng (大中至正), meaning Chiang’s “great neutrality and perfect uprightness,” to “Liberty Square” (自由廣場) and redecorated the hall.

“Although the Ma government has proposed reinstating the title of Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, it has never reviewed or apologized for the KMT’s violence,” Tsai said.

The KMT respects Chiang, while the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) venerates Mao Zedong (毛澤東) and both parties do everything they can to avoid facing the massacres they committed, she said.

Now that the KMT and CCP have reconciled, both are cooperating to legitimize their rule and rationalize their massacres, she said.

While the KMT government held a ceremony to commemorate victims of the White Terror yesterday, it was not sincere in holding the event, she said.

DPP Legislator Wang Sing-nan (王幸男) said copies of military court rulings in Chiang’s handwriting showed Chiang often changed lighter sentences to heavier sentences and heavier sentences to the death penalty.

The 228 Incident was a rebellion against KMT rule sparked on Feb. 27, 1947. It has been estimated that some 20,000 people were killed by KMT troops in the months following the rebellion.

As Chiang dispatched KMT troops to Taiwan, many believe he should bear the largest share of responsibility for the tragedy.

The White Terror began soon after the 228 Incident, when the government launched a brutal military crackdown against locals protesting the administration of executive administrator Chen Yi (陳儀), who was appointed by the KMT government to govern Taiwan after World War II. Martial law was enacted briefly at that time.

In the following years, tens of thousands of people were arrested, imprisoned, tortured and murdered.

During the White Terror era, the KMT government killed tens of thousands of suspected dissidents, mainly the Taiwanese intellectual and social elite, as it searched for communist agents, sympathizers and others it feared could pose a threat to its rule.

The powerful Taiwan Garrison Command identified suspects through its widespread secret-agent system.

Also See: REMEMBERING THE WHITE TERROR: Ma promises to increase efforts for compensation

Also See: REMEMBERING THE WHITE TERROR: Prisoner shares violin tale

Also See: REMEMBERING THE WHITE TERROR: Researcher says Chiangs should be held responsible

China takes action on al-Qaeda
　

‘NECESSARY’: Beijing warned citizens about possible attacks in Algeria and asked police to probe threats in the Philippines after a crackdown in Muslim regions

REUTERS AND AFP , BEIJING AND URUMQI, CHINA
Thursday, Jul 16, 2009, Page 5
　

China has warned its citizens in Algeria about possible attacks from al-Qaeda in retribution for a Chinese government crackdown in the Muslim region of Xinjiang, and security has been tightened around Beijing’s missions in the Philippines.

The Chinese embassy in Algeria on its Web site urged all Chinese people and organizations to be more aware of safety precautions and to strengthen security measures “in consideration of the situation after the July 5 incident in Urumqi.”

The warning came after London risk consultancy Stirling Assynt said in a report to clients that al-­Qaeda might target Chinese workers in northwest Africa, citing “chatter” after the July 5 ethnic riots in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang.

“China has been reminding overseas Chinese to pay attention to their safety and enhance self protection,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang (秦剛) told reporters on Tuesday when asked to comment on the report. “China will take any necessary measure to protect the safety of Chinese organizations and citizens overseas.”

A diplomat, surnamed Shao, at the Chinese embassy in Algiers said: “We do believe that security has improved a lot in Algeria and we will rely on Algerian security forces to protect our people.”

In the Philippines, which is battling a Muslim insurgency in its south, the government has ordered security to be tightened around the Chinese embassy and consulates, said Andres Caro, head of the national police directorate.

Caro said police had asked intelligence units to investigate threats against China’s interests after Liu Zhongxiang (劉仲祥), China’s defense attache in Manila, requested police assistance to guard the embassy and consular offices.

“There was information that local terrorists associated with these Chinese terrorists/supporters are planning to initiate attacks against Chinese embassies in various countries,” Caro told reporters, quoting a letter sent by Liu.

Security is heavy in Uighur neighborhoods of Urumqi and other cities in Xinjiang after the ethnic riots.

The death toll from ethnic unrest in northwestern China’s Urumqi city on July 5 has risen by eight to 192, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday.

No breakdown of the new toll was given, but when reporting the earlier 184 deaths, Xinhua said 137 of the victims were from China’s dominant Han ethnic group, 46 were Muslim Uighurs and one was from the Hui minority.

More than 1,600 people were injured in the ethnic unrest, 74 of whom were in critical condition as of Sunday, Xinhua said earlier. About 1,000 people have been detained.

Exiled Uighur organizations said they opposed all forms of violence and condemned the reported al-Qaeda threat.

The Uyghur (also spelt Uighur) American Association and the World Uyghur Congress are “extremely disturbed by reports that the North African wing of al-Qaeda has threatened to attack Chinese workers in Africa in revenge for the deaths of Uyghurs in East Turkestan [Xinjiang],” the exiled groups said in an emailed statement.

They said they advocated basic human rights and self-determination for Uighurs, a Turkic people who are largely Muslim and share linguistic and cultural bonds with Central Asia and who now make up less than half the region’s population of 20 million.

Detained by a lawless judiciary
　

By Huang Chi-yao 黃啟堯
Thursday, Jul 16, 2009, Page 8

Astonishingly, the Taipei District Court again ruled to continue the detention of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). In doing so, the court flouted international human rights legislation as well as the fact that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights have been signed into Taiwanese law.

The constitutional separation of powers requires the judicial, legislative and executive branches to supervise each other. After President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration took over, however, the judicial branch has not fulfilled this constitutional role.

Instead, it has listened to the government and given up its independence in joining the other branches to create an authoritarian system that impinges on impartiality and justice and encroaches on human rights.

Superficial evidence has made an appearance in Chen’s case, but pre-sentence detention is not a means to punish suspects, nor a tool to extract confessions.

The presumption of innocence means that the accused should be detained only after a guilty verdict has been issued and that judges must pay attention to admissible evidence. Judges cannot decide to detain a suspect indefinitely because they determine on their own accord that there are strong suspicions involving the accused or that he could try to abscond, then hand down a verdict based on a confession given under duress.

If, for example, Chen really was under strong suspicion of committing a crime, there would have been no need for the controversial switch of judges that resulted in Chen’s detention. Furthermore, if there are suspicions that an accused former president may abscond, this presumes that security officials will neglect their duties. This kind of presumed guilt is unreasonable and illegal.

If the reasons for the latest extension to Chen’s detention are not accepted by the general public, the judiciary will lose its credibility.

Corruption, graft and money-laundering are criminal acts around the world, and while the same is the case in Taiwan, previous judgments indicate that courts have not applied the law consistently in investigations of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government leaders. This has set a tacit precedent, and the unfairness of it all implies that there are two legal systems in place in Taiwan.

The Republic of China’s Constitution is a constitution for China, not for Taiwan, and the laws in the Constitution are Chinese laws, not Taiwanese laws. If we accept that Taiwan is lawless, then anything is acceptable.

The Nuremberg principle, the basis for international criminal law, states that the legality of domestic legislation does not absolve one of responsibility under international law, and that actions performed in the line of duty are not necessarily legal.

Human rights crimes fall under international legislation, so, in addition to expressing concern for Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar, I call on the UN and the international community to show their concern for the problems of leaders of human rights movements elsewhere.

Huang Chi-yao has a doctorate in law and is a visiting researcher at the Max Planck Institute.