Amnesty Taiwan slams China over questioning of former worker

Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) Amnesty International Taiwan on Thursday condemned Chinese authorities for questioning a Taiwanese national for six hours over his previous work for the human rights organization, saying support for human rights should not be treated as grounds for restricting a person's freedom.

"Caring about or supporting human rights is not a crime, nor should it become a reason for any government to question someone or restrict their personal freedom," Amnesty International Taiwan Secretary-General Chiu E-ling (邱伊翎) said in a statement issued Thursday afternoon.

She also warned that targeting people simply for working with or supporting human rights groups threatens not only individual freedom and safety, but also "the space for civil society as a whole to participate in public affairs."

"We strongly condemn any attempt to stigmatize human rights work, treat civic participation as a threat, or create a chilling effect," Chiu added.

The statement came a day after China's Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) confirmed the questioning and described Amnesty International as a "pawn of international anti-China forces."

TAO spokesperson Zhang Han (張晗) accused the international human rights group of repeatedly "distorting facts, spreading rumors and smearing the mainland," and said Chinese border authorities' screening of an individual who had worked for the organization was "completely reasonable and lawful."

The controversy began last Saturday, when the Taiwanese man's father wrote on social media platform Threads that his son had been questioned for about six hours after arriving in Shanghai earlier that day.

According to the post, Chinese authorities questioned the man about his previous part-time work for Amnesty International Taiwan, including whether his duties involved human rights issues concerning China, Hong Kong, the Uyghurs or Tibet, as well as his contacts with politicians and human rights activists.

The man told authorities that he had not been a decision-maker or core advocate at the organization, had since left the job and was traveling to China for personal reasons with no political intent, according to the post.

He ultimately decided to forgo entry into China and returned to Taiwan that night.

MAC's response

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Sunday that although the case had not been reported to the government, the account was consistent with similar cases it had previously documented.

At a regular news briefing in Taipei on Thursday, MAC deputy head and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) rejected the TAO's characterization of Amnesty International as a "pawn of international anti-China forces."

"Amnesty International is not anti-China. It opposes the Chinese Communist Party's authoritarian rule," Liang said, adding that Beijing was unable to tolerate such criticism and that the questioning was "quite shocking."

He also said the case showed Beijing could scrutinize Taiwanese people over conduct that is legal in Taiwan, warning that such actions could deter people from joining certain groups or activities and pose a "significant threat" to Taiwan's democratic system.