You Si-kun, the speaker of Taiwan’s Parliament, spoke at the International Religious Freedom Summit on Wednesday and expressed why it is important for free nations to protect Taiwan.
“If Taiwan falls into the sphere of influence of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), then the beacon of democracy will be destroyed. And China can invade the first island chain and cause a threat to the entire world,” he said.
You Si-kun, the Speaker of Taiwan’s Parliament, addresses the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, DC
(IRF Summit / Matt Rybczynski)
Freedom House’s Freedom in the World 2022 report gave Taiwan a perfect score of 4 for religious freedom.
DOZENS OF CHINESE MILITARY AIRCRAFT, VESSELS DETECTED IN TAIWAN WATERS AND AIRSPACE
Chinese police push Uyghur women during a protest in Urumqi, the capital of China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. (Guang Niu/Getty Images/File)
The speaker added: “Taiwan has shown that democracy, born in the West, can flourish in Chinese-speaking regions.”
Raids by the Chinese army have become more regular. Beijing has continued to fly military aircraft near Taiwan in an effort to reinforce its position that the island is part of China.
US Air Force General Mike Minihan, in a memo last month, instructed officers to be prepared for a US-China conflict over Taiwan in 2025.
An annual report from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom stated: “The Chinese communist government has created a high-tech surveillance state, using facial recognition and artificial intelligence to monitor and harass Christians, Tibetan Buddhists, Falon Gong and other religions.
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He also noted that an estimated 900,000 to 1.8 million Uighurs, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz and other Muslims have been detained in more than 1,300 concentration camps in Xinjiang.
Speaking at the summit on Tuesday, Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, said the Chinese Communist Party is carrying out an all-out assault on religion.
“They are committing genocide against Uyghur Muslims. The stories of forced sterilizations, forced abortions, brainwashing and even murder are horrifying,” he said.
Former Rep. Frank Wolf, a Virginia Republican, said there should be a “complete and utter ban” on any company representing China.
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(Former Virginia Rep. Frank Wolf addresses the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington, D.C. | IRF Summit/Matt Rybczynski)
“How can a lobbying company in [Washington] What we’re looking at today, a law firm, is representing China when they’re committing genocide, genocide against Uyghur women. … How do you go up the hill and say, ‘I’m representing Chinese interests,’ she said.
In response to continued criticism of his country, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 that there are “basic facts [that] show that there has never been so-called genocide, forced labor or religious oppression in Xinjiang.”
“Such inflammatory accusations are fabricated out of ignorance and prejudice. They are simply politically driven and malicious exaggerations and could not be [farther] of the truth,” he said at the time.
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Reuters contributed to this report.
