China
executes nine convicted over Xinjiang unrest
AFP, BEIJING
Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009, Page 1
China said yesterday it had put to death nine people over deadly ethnic unrest
in Xinjiang, the first executions since the violence erupted in July.
Authorities convicted 21 defendants last month — nine were sentenced to death,
three were given the death penalty with a two-year reprieve, a sentence usually
commuted to life in jail, and the rest were handed various prison terms.
“The first group of nine people who were sentenced to death recently have
already been executed in succession, with the approval of the Supreme Court,”
said Hou Hanmin, spokeswoman for the Xinjiang government.
It was not clear, however, when the executions took place.
Previous statements by the Xinjiang government said eight of the nine were
Uighurs and one was Han Chinese.
The violence erupted on July 5, pitting Uighurs against Han Chinese. An official
toll put the number of dead at 197, with more than 1,600 injured. Han vigilantes
then went on a rampage against Uighurs two days later, but the exact number of
casualties from that day has never been divulged.
The 21 defendants were convicted of crimes such as murder, intentional damage to
property, arson, and robbery.
Han Junbo, the Han Chinese man who was sentenced to death, was convicted of
killing a Uighur man, a previous Xinjiang government statement said.
One of the Uighurs given the death penalty was found guilty of beating two
people to death with another defendant, as well as stealing people’s
possessions.
Dilxat Raxit, a spokesman for the World Uyghur Congress, condemned the
executions, saying the Uighurs who were put to death had not been able to meet
with their families.
“We regret that the United States and Europe have not adopted effective measures
towards China regarding the death penalty issue,” he said by telephone from
Sweden.
Premier
ready to sue DPP’s Lee
TO COURT: The Cabinet
spokesman said Lee Wen-chung should prove his claims about the premier having
criminal links or Wu Den-yih would file a lawsuit today
By Flora Wang, Jenny
W. hsu and Shih Hsiu-chuan
STAFF REPORTERS
Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009, Page 3
Executive Yuan Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) yesterday said Premier Wu Den-yih
(吳敦義) would sue the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) candidate for Nantou
County commissioner, Lee Wen-chung (李文忠), if Lee failed to substantiate
allegations against Wu by midnight last night.
Lee said that Wu, Chiang Chin-liang (江欽良) — a convicted felon on parole — and
Nantou County Commissioner Lee Chao-ching (李朝卿) of the Chinese Nationalist Party
(KMT) were on a trip together to Bali, Indonesia, last December to settle the
distribution of profits from the local gravel trade as well as select a new
Nantou County Council speaker and vice speaker.
Su said Lee should prove his claims or apologize to the premier, adding that Wu
would file a lawsuit today if Lee failed to produce evidence.
Wu has been on the defensive since Next Magazine published a story last
Wednesday suggesting that he had ties to Chiang. Chiang, now chairman of the
Tsaoyetun Night Market Association in Tsaotun Township (草屯), was convicted of
murder in two separate cases: the slaying of a Changhua gangster and a Nantou
County council member in 1983 and 1985 respectively.
Last Thursday, Wu denied the allegations that he was involved in helping Chiang
obtain permission to meet gangster Kuo Ping-hui (郭平輝) in prison in January. Kuo
was the mastermind behind an infamous staged threat that was televised in 2007.
But Wu called a press conference the next day to concede that the meeting was
arranged with his assistance after the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister
paper) published a report citing Wu Cheng-po (吳正博), warden of the Taichung
prison where Kuo is incarcerated, that the meeting was arranged by Wu in his
capacity as lawmaker.
Wu’s alleged ties to Chiang and the gravel trade continued to draw attention
yesterday as records of donations to Wu were made public.
The Control Yuan Gazette reported that Wu accepted a non-cash donation of
NT$100,000 from Chiang and NT$200,000 in cash from the Sung Ye gravel company
during his most recent legislative campaign in Nantou County.
In response, Wu yesterday said the non-cash donation referred to rental fees
saved when Chiang let him hold a campaign rally free of charge next to the night
market Chiang managed.
“The fact that I registered [this as a] donation proves two things,” Wu said.
“First, I was a law-abiding candidate, as I kept records of all donations to my
campaign down to the last details. Second, there is nothing ... to hide.”
Wu said the gravel company also made a donation of NT$300,000 to Lin Yun-sheng
(林耘生), his DPP rival in the election.
Meanwhile, Lee Wen-chung yesterday said he was not afraid of a lawsuit, adding
that a “secret witness” was prepared to testify against Wu in a closed-door
hearing.
At a separate setting yesterday, DPP Legislator William Lai (賴清德) said Wu had a
track record of lying and close links to crime syndicates that made him unfit
for his position.
“Wu used to be a habitual liar and that’s why he was nicknamed ‘The Lying Mayor’
when he governed Kaohsiung City,” Lai told reporters. “When he became the
premier, we urged him to change his ways, but clearly he hasn’t.”
Lai demanded that Wu vacate his office immediately.
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Wu was engaging in “political gambling”
by telling the public that he would step down only if Lee Wen-chung could
produce evidence.
“I am shocked by [Wu’s] attitude. In this situation, he is the one with the
administrative power, yet he is using it to squash a civilian,” Tsai said.
Unequal
treatment of reporters
Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009, Page 8
The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) recently relaxed regulations
on Chinese reporters stationed in Taiwan. Chinese journalists will now be free
to move around and interview people without informing the authorities
beforehand. The government now encourages local as well as national Chinese
media to station correspondents in Taiwan, and Chinese media workers will be
able to save money by renting apartments rather than being confined to staying
at certain hotels.
Ma and his ministers are always trying to please China, and these latest relaxed
rules for Chinese journalists are another expression of their loyalty to what
they see as their motherland. Chinese journalists have reacted to the gesture
with an unexpected lack of appreciation, writing a lot of nonsense in the
Chinese media to the effect that, although the new measures will allow them to
save some money, they may expose them to attacks by extremists such as Taiwanese
independence supporters or Tibetan independence activists residing in Taiwan.
Speaking off the record, a government official objected to these reports, saying
that Taiwan is a country under the rule of law, and the suggestions made in the
Chinese media were quite unwarranted in the light of the Taiwanese side’s
goodwill.
Chinese reporters stationed in Taiwan have expressed these views not because
they are really worried about possible attacks, but to discredit Taiwan’s
democracy and give a false impression about the mainstream of public opinion in
Taiwan. First, they want people in China to think Taiwan is a violent place
where people’s lives and property are always under threat. Second, they want to
portray Taiwanese independence advocates as a minority, and a violent one at
that.
This kind of distortion of facts about Taiwan by Chinese reporters posted here
is not an isolated case — it is part of a long-term strategy. Even since Taiwan
first allowed Chinese media to post reporters in Taiwan, their reports have
invariably taken a greater-China standpoint, painting a distorted picture of the
country and completely disregarding Taiwan’s greatest achievements in realizing
the core values of democracy, freedom and human rights. The suggestion that
Chinese reporters might be attacked if they rented their own apartments and
offices is clearly just another attempt to vilify Taiwan.
Why do we say that Chinese reporters posted here denigrate Taiwan’s democracy?
The answer is plain and simple: Since these Chinese journalists are based in
Taiwan, they must be perfectly aware that it is a free country with a
pluralistic society in which each and every person is at liberty to express his
or her political beliefs. The Constitution protects people’s personal security
from repression by those in power or attacks by people holding different
political opinions. The expression of differing views is well established as the
norm in Taiwan. Just as politicians have their own beliefs and ideas, so do
different media outlets have different political leanings. Appearing on radio
and television chat shows, politicians and commentators cross swords over the
airwaves. It really is a case of letting “a hundred flowers bloom and a hundred
schools of thought contend.”
Even though debate may be fierce and comments incisive, it is rare for anyone to
be attacked physically just because of their opinions or ideology. Taiwanese
people are traditionally kind and tolerant and do not normally resort to
violence against those who have a different point of view. Living and working as
they do in this land of freedom, Chinese journalists must be well aware of how
strikingly this situation contrasts with China’s dictatorship. What
justification can they possibly have, then, for the spurious suggestion that
they fear attacks by supporters of Taiwanese or Tibetan independence?
Actually, our main purpose in drawing readers’ attention to this issue is not to
highlight the distorted image of Taiwan given by Chinese reporters stationed
here, but to question the wisdom of the Ma administration’s moves to open up
cross-strait exchanges in news reporting. There is no need at all for such
exchanges.
First, Chinese journalists reporting from Taiwan all serve the predetermined
purposes of promoting the notion of “one China” and ultimately annexing Taiwan.
That being the case, they cannot be expected to do much in the way of fair and
truthful reporting. Taiwan is a sovereign and independent country, and the
mainstream of opinion is in favor of Taiwan’s own cultural and political
identity.
However, Taiwan’s sovereignty is nowhere to be seen in the writings of Chinese
reporters. They would rather portray the tiny minority who support unification
as the mainstream. They would have their readers and viewers believe that
everyone in Taiwan is “yearning for the motherland.” This kind of distorted
reporting does nothing to promote understanding between the two sides. What is
the point in having cross-strait exchanges in news reporting if this is the
outcome?
Second, China is a dictatorship with no freedom of reporting to speak of. Just
recently, Reporters without Borders (RSF) ranked China eighth from the bottom in
its annual Press Freedom Index, above only a handful of notoriously repressive
countries such as Laos, Cuba, Burma, Iran and North Korea. The RSF report
accuses Chinese authorities of enforcing strict controls on news reporting by
filtering the Internet and arresting journalists, bloggers, dissidents and human
rights activists.
While the Ma government has gradually relaxed regulations about where Chinese
reporters can live and work, China still uses various administrative means to
severely restrict the activities of Taiwanese reporters, preventing them from
gathering news freely and investigating the true face of Chinese society.
Since China does not reciprocate Taiwan’s treatment of its reporters, why should
Taiwan one-sidedly relax its regulations? Besides, while Taiwan places no
restrictions on the content of reports made by Chinese journalists, Taiwanese
reporters in China have to be very careful, otherwise they may find themselves
framed and thrown in jail, accused of infringing China’s national security.
All in all, the Ma government’s relaxation of restrictions on Chinese media will
not help people in China to get a better understanding of Taiwan’s freedom and
democracy. On the contrary, deliberately distorted reports will give ordinary
Chinese an even more twisted impression of Taiwan. Besides, freedom of reporting
is nonexistent under China’s dictatorship. Taiwanese reporters in China cannot
gather news freely, and in attempting to tell the truth they are walking through
a minefield in which their safety and liberty are always under threat.
Above all, China makes no secret of its intention to annex Taiwan, and Chinese
media are a fifth column that serves precisely that purpose. In such
circumstances, the media exchanges the Ma government wants to have with China
provide the other side with a means of undermining Taiwan. Since the conditions
for news reporting on each side of the Taiwan Strait are so unequal, what is the
point of going on with such a policy?