Exiled Uyghur Muslim leader Rebiya Kadeer is seen on a theatre screen, watched by local residents, in southern Kaohsiung on Sept. 23, 2009. She was invited to Taiwan, but had her visa rejected. (Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty Images)
Taiwan's Minister of the Interior, Jiang Yi-huah announced the denial on Sept. 25 while speaking to the Legislative Yuan. He argued that the decision was in the best interest of the country, repeating the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) claim that the World Uyghur Congress led by Kadeer is connected to the East Turkestan Liberation Organization, which it alleges to be a terrorist group.
Jiang argued for not issuing Kadeer a visa based on Taiwan's immigration laws and what he says is the interest of state security.
Representatives from the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said that Kadeer has been visiting many countries freely, and demanded legitimate reason for the denial.
The World Uyghur Congress (WUC) expressed their disappointment with the move, saying that they oppose violence and have not been involved in any terrorist activities. In another statement issued the same day the DPP said that Kadeer was a political refugee in the United States, a country that works the hardest to defeat terrorism.
The World Uyghur Congress is sponsored by the National Endowment for Democracy, an organization funded by the United States Congress. The statement emphasizes that the Taiwan government is acting in opposition to democratic countries.
The DPP said President Ma Ying-jeou’s cabinet must have a very different standpoint from that of other democratic countries, and requested government to explain its actions.
Not long ago the European Parliament Human Rights Committee invited Kadeer to attend a hearing in Belgium on China’s human rights.
China has been using its economic power to put diplomatic pressure on countries around the world, at the same time seeking to smear the reputation of the WUC, Dilshat said. He hoped that as a sovereign and democratic nation, Taiwan would not try to please Beijing by adopting its standards.
Read the original Chinese article.
