Tuesday, March 07, 2006

MORE ATTENTION TO CHINA HUMAN RIGHTS NEEDED IN TAIWAN: ACTIVISTS

Taipei, March 6 (CNA) Taiwanese people and media should pay closer attention to human rights issues in China because it serves Taiwan's interests well, human rights advocates said on the sidelines of a protest against China Monday.

Dozens of human rights activists launched a 24-hour relay hunger strike to protest against China for its repeated violations of human rights, which include illegal kidnapping and detention of dissidents and suppression of Falun Gong members.

"The democratization of China will benefit Taiwan, as far as cross-Taiwan Strait relations are concerned, and it is why Taiwanese should pay more attention to human rights problems in China, " said Yan Peng, a Chinese dissident who is seeking political asylum in Taiwan.

"Taiwanese are familiar with China but not with the Communist Party of China (CPC) . People know about the 'China Rising' and visit China, but most of them don't understand what the CPC has actually done in China, " claimed Tsao Hueiling, publisher of the Taiwanese edition of The Epoch Times.

"Taiwanese may know about the suppression of dissidents, religion and media by the CPC. But they don't live there and experience it first-hand. For most people it's something that happens in another country and has nothing to do with their daily lives, " Tsao said.

"The bottom line is: It's not just 'news, ' it's about people's lives, " she said.