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Rights groups call for Liu’s freedom
By Mo Yan-chih / Staff Reporter
Several civil rights groups yesterday called on the Chinese government to free
jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波), and urged President Ma Ying-jeou
(馬英九) to include human rights issues in cross-strait negotiations.
The Ma administration should also invite Liu and his wife to visit Taiwan and
offer the couple political asylum, they said.
“The Ma administration should urge the Chinese government to release Liu
immediately and include the two civil rights that are enshrined in two UN
conventions as an agenda in the sixth round of cross-strait negotiations,” Lai
Chung-chiang (賴中強), convener of the Cross-Strait Agreements Watch Alliance, told
a press conference held in Taipei.
Taipei Society director Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) said the peace prize highlighted
Chinese government repression and the Ma administration should address the issue
while pursuing close cross-strait ties.
The groups’ call came days -before the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony, which
will be held on Friday in Norway. It remains unknown whether the prize will be
handed out as scheduled because China is still imprisoning Liu and is unlikely
to allow his family to attend the ceremony.
The Chinese government -sentenced Liu to 11 years in prison for subversion after
he co-authored an appeal calling for political reforms in China. His wife, Liu
Xia (劉霞), has been under house arrest since the award was announced in October.
Later this month, the Straits Exchange Foundation and its Chinese counterpart,
the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, are set to hold the
sixth round of cross-strait talks in Taipei to sign an investment protection
agreement and a separate pact on medical and hygiene cooperation.
The upcoming cross-strait negotiations and any future cross-strait exchanges,
the groups said, should abide by democratic principles and include mention of
human rights and personal liberties.
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