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Sunflower leaders in US rally for HK democracy
By Su Fang-ho and Nadia Tsao / Staff reporters
Supporters of Taiwanese independence groups display slogans supporting full democracy in Hong Kong outside the Chinese embassy in Washington on Sunday.
Photo from the Taiwan March Facebook page
Sunflower movement leaders voiced their support for Hong Kong democracy activists at the Chinese embassy in Washington during their recent US visit.
Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) and Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷), along with other student activists and representatives from overseas Taiwanese organizations, protested on Sunday against what they see as China’s denial of Hong Kongers’ political rights.
They held up slogans saying “Taiwan Youth support Hong Kong” and “Democracy for Hong Kong” in front of the embassy.
The groups included Taiwan March, Black Island National Youth Front and Overseas Taiwan Youth Alliance, and they vowed their protest against China would continue until their objectives are achieved.
A statement was read out, denouncing the Chinese National People’s Congress decision to restrict candidate nominations and reject universal voting proposals, saying: “It is a fake democracy and a fake election.”
“We strongly condemn China’s oppression against the yearning for democracy by Hong Kong residents. We also protest against Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council for its feeble reply with just an expression of ‘regret.’ We request China to respect the aspiration for reform and democracy in Hong Kong,” the statement said.
Earlier in their US visit, the Sunflower movement leaders and overseas Taiwanese delegates met with World Uyghur Congress president Rebiya Kadeer, to exchange views and talk about future collaboration.
Lin and Academia Sinica researcher and key Taiwan March adviser Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) presented Kadeer with a souvenir Sunflower movement T-shirt and other gifts from Taiwan during the meeting on Aug. 22.
“We [Uighurs] are fighting for freedom and democracy in similar ways as Taiwan’s Sunflower movement groups. We have the same aims and ideals. In the future, we will continue to cooperate with these Sunflower movement leaders,” she said. “The Uighur people are struggling for freedom. We see the Sunflower student movement are carrying out their endeavors through peaceful means. The Uighur people also hope to achieve our goals through peaceful means.”
During a briefing at the National Press Club in Washington on Aug. 27, Kadeer said that the US promises to protect Taiwan through the Taiwan Relations Act, which is meant to deter any military threat by China, “however, the US Congress does not have something similar to protect the Uighur people, and also we do not have such a basis to ask US to intervene in affairs of East Turkestan.”
“Thus we will seek to co-operate with the Sunflower student movement, to organize events and activities together, so that we can achieve our struggle for freedom through peaceful means,” she said.
source: Taipei Times
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