Rebiya Kadeer to sue Taiwan over terrorism claims

AFP AND DPA , TAIPEI
Thursday, Oct 01, 2009, Page 1

“I don’t care if the Chinese authorities are making the accusation because everybody knows they are liars ... Taiwan is a democratic country and it is irresponsible to accuse our organization.”— Rebiya Kadeer, president of the World Uyghur Congress

Exiled Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer plans to sue the government for linking her organization to terrorism, a Taiwanese group said yesterday.

Taiwanese officials last week banned Kadeer from visiting Taiwan, saying her World Uyghur Congress (WUC) has close links to the East Turkestan Islamic Movement — a charge she flatly rejected. The East Turkestan Islamic Movement is listed as a terrorist organization by the US.

“She is planning to sue unless the Taiwanese government apologizes and clears her name,” said Marie Yang (楊月清) of the Taiwan Youth Anti-Communist Corps, one of the groups that had invited her to visit.

Kadeer, in an interview with the Chinese-language Next Magazine, expressed indignation at the terrorism allegations.

“The World Uyghur Congress has never had anything to do with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement. I do not wish for nor support violent means,” she told the magazine in Washington.

She reiterated that her organization had received grants from the US and blasted Taiwanese officials for making “reckless” and “irresponsible” remarks.

“Taiwan made the decision under pressure from China. But Taiwan’s calling WUC a terrorist organization, that is too much,” she told the magazine.

“I can back down or keep silent on many accusations, but I can’t remain silent on terrorist claims. I don’t care if the Chinese authorities are making the accusation because everybody knows they are liars,” she said. “Taiwan is a democratic country and it is irresponsible to accuse our organization [of terrorism]. So I am taking it seriously.”

Kadeer said she has asked the Taiwan Anti-Communist Youth Corps to represent her and file the suit with a Taiwanese court.

Yang said her group would do so.

“We have accepted her request and are discussing how and when to file the lawsuit,” she told the Deutsche Presse-Agentur.

Vice Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) said yesterday that the government stood by its decision.

“The decision is based on concerns for national security and national interest. We do not call her a terrorist ... There is no reason to give an apology,” he said.

Central Beijing cleared for anniversary party

AP , BEIJING
Thursday, Oct 01, 2009, Page 5
　

China’s capital was wrapped in tight security and thick fog yesterday as police blocked off Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and other popular tourist landmarks ahead of a massive parade marking 60 years of communist rule.

Many tourist spots, hotels, restaurants and shops in central Beijing had already been closed ahead of today’s celebrations, which are expected to rival last year’s Olympic opening ceremony.

The Forbidden City and the Great Hall of the People were shut along with many businesses located on Changan Street, the major boulevard that runs east-west through the city, including the Raffles and Beijing hotels, supermarkets, Starbucks coffee shops, tiny mom-and-pop noodle stalls and tourist boutiques.

Armed pairs of helmeted SWAT police stood guard beside armored vehicles at many intersections along Changan, while underground, subway riders passed through metal detectors and had their bags scanned.

State media said most of the subway stations in the Tiananmen area were to be closed late yesterday or early today.
　

A heavy fog lay over the city — threatening to diminish the planned fighter jet flyovers and fireworks display. The official Xinhua news agency quoted the Beijing Meteorological Station as saying 18 planes were on standby to clear the air with cloud-seeding, which is believed to induce rain showers, if it was deemed necessary.

Similar actions were undertaken last year during the Olympic Games, when Beijing fired off 1,100 silver iodide rockets to disperse rain on the eve of the opening ceremony. Chinese officials said the rockets succeeded in holding off a rain belt that threatened to reach the capital and drench the ceremony.

International scientists say there has never been proof that such methods produce results.

Rehearsals in the past few weeks have included jets and helicopters flying in formation over the city, releasing streams of red, blue and yellow smoke as they pass by.

Primarily a chance to showcase the country’s might with a massive military parade, the celebrations are to include a “civilian parade” with about 100,000 people taking part and 60 floats. Tens of thousands of doves, 5,000 balloon-toting children and a chorus of thousands are to be part of the show, Xinhua said.

The scale of the event reflects strong nationalist feelings among many Chinese, who feel proud of the country’s achievements since the People’s Republic was founded in 1949 — a transformation from an impoverished, war-wracked country to an economic and diplomatic power.

Beijing resident Cui Jin, 65, said she felt the elaborate display of military power was an appropriate way to mark the anniversary.

“If we do not have a strong defense army or a very capable People’s Army, how can we have peace and security?” she said.

Few other details have been given on the schedule for the celebrations, but a keynote address from President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) is expected, followed by the two parades. Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou (張藝謀), who directed the opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics, will oversee the evening fireworks display.

Lessons from the Philippines

Thursday, Oct 01, 2009, Page 8

Still recuperating from the destruction wrought by Typhoon Morakot in August, many in Taiwan can relate to the suffering of the people in the Philippines after Typhoon Ketsana struck over the weekend.

Typhoon Ketsana ravaged the northern Philippines on Saturday with torrential rainfall. Local weather reports said the rainfall was the heaviest the country had seen in four decades, dumping a month’s worth of monsoon rain in six hours on Saturday night and leaving 80 percent of metropolitan Manila submerged by the next morning. The country’s National Disaster Coordinating Council said yesterday that the typhoon has affected more than 2.2 million people and killed at least 246.

Within one day of Typhoon Ketsana wreaking havoc in the area, amid public accusations that the government was unprepared and mishandling the crisis, Philippine authorities were quick to apologize for delays in rescue efforts, citing difficulties in reaching flooded areas.

The Philippine government on Sunday appealed for international humanitarian aid, and President Gloria Arroyo frankly said Ketsana had “strained our response capabilities to the limit.”

On Monday, Arroyo opened the Malacanang Presidential Palace as an evacuation center to shelter flood victims. On Tuesday, she led her Cabinet members in donating two months’ salary to relief and reconstruction operations.

Although her critics panned her for not doing more — as the salaries she and her Cabinet members receive pale in comparison to their reportedly extensive personal assets — the gesture nonetheless served to suggest that government officials were contributing to overall relief work.

Facing similar destruction on the heels of Typhoon Morakot, not only did the administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) fail to seek international aid, it flatly rejected assistance offered by some countries.

While Ma happily publicized his donation of NT$200,000 (US$6,240) in May last year for Sichuan Earthquake victims, this time the Presidential Office declined to reveal the amount Ma donated to southern Taiwan’s flood victims.

Furthermore, the Ma administration’s tardy apology for its slow rescue work came more than a week after hundreds perished, some of whom could probably have been saved with more prompt rescue efforts.

Beyond this less-than-flattering comparison comes the news that the Presidential Office has sought to expand the perimeter of the Boai District where the Presidential Office and the president’s official residence are located.

While the Presidential Office said the president’s security was the main reason behind the re-zoning, skeptics say the plan is actually a preemptive measure to keep future protesters further away from Ma.

“I feel the people’s pain,” Ma has repeatedly said. “The people’s pain is my pain, and your suffering is my suffering.”

It is clear that Ma has a lot to do to show Taiwanese that he cares as much as he says he does. By seeking to keep protesters at an increased distance, the president has further demonstrated that he is not interested in hearing the public’s dissatisfaction, let alone “feeling their pain.”

Open letter to Chen Chu

Thursday, Oct 01, 2009, Page 8

Dear Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊),

As the producer (John Lewis) and director (Jeff Daniels) of The 10 Conditions of Love, we thank you sincerely for the courageous and principled decision of the Kaohsiung City Government to permit further screenings of our documentary at the ­Kaohsiung Film Festival (KFF), in addition to the screenings last week. As filmmakers, we are doubly blessed.

We hope these additional screenings, forming as they do the original intention of the KFF, will reassure those who may have wavered in their faith in your long-­standing struggle and adherence to the struggle for democracy and human rights in Taiwan and Asia, in particular in Tibet and Xinjiang, and in the world generally.

We appreciate the immense pressure brought to bear on your administration by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the programming of the documentary in the KFF.

We believe the symbolism of your decision to permit further screenings will be welcomed and acclaimed by commentators and film-goers around the globe and will permanently establish ­Kaohsiung as one of the region’s most important and serious film festivals with an international reputation for integrity under pressure.

KFF will further establish its position as a leading cultural force in Taiwan by its plan to organize advance screenings of The 10 Conditions of Love throughout Taiwan. We have had numerous approaches by some parties in Taiwan claiming to have acquired rights to screenings, but we wish to confirm that only KFF can authorize screenings.

The Kaohsiung City Government and KFF have worked hard under great political duress to achieve this outcome. We hope organizations that wish to screen the film will contact KFF. It is ­important that these screenings are conducted legally because the rule of law is the first step towards the guarantee of human rights.

China must be resisted powerfully in its attempt to tell democracies what they may or may not see. It has attempted in past months to do this in Australia and again in New Zealand. In each case, its efforts were rebuffed firmly.

Compromise does not work with the Chinese in the matter of the Uighurs and World Uyghur Congress leader Rebiya Kadeer. Nor with Tibet.

We refer to a recent editorial in Taiwan News this week which said that there can be no retreat on free speech — not in Taiwan, not anywhere.

Once again, we express our gratitude and admiration for your actions in this matter.

JOHN LEWIS
JEFF DANIELS