Ankara hosts Taiwan Night

ANKARA- Anadolu Agency

Protesters in Hong Kong who are resisting the government’s move to legalize extradition to mainland China received solidarity and support on July 26 at a musical evening in Turkey.

The Taiwanese mission in Ankara hosted “Taiwan Night- Melody for Freedom”, which was dedicated to the people of Hong Kong and “East Turkistan."

Popular pianist Kai-yin Huang performed classical and modern music along with Turkish singer Mert Özdemir.

“Taiwan Night is dedicated to people of our neighbor Hong Kong. We admire their effort to protect their own basic human rights, freedom and democracy,” said Yaser Tai-hsiang Cheng, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Mission in Ankara.

Hong Kong, an autonomous region under China’s control since 1997, has been witnessing unprecedented demonstrations since early June after the government of Chief Executive Carrie Lam moved to pass an amendment to the extradition law to legalize extradition of even suspects to mainland China, Macao and Taiwan.

Hong Kong and Macao are autonomous regions under Chinese rule, while Taiwan is what China calls a ‘breakaway province."

Hong Kong witnessed million marches and some incidents of violence.

Several people were arrested and some fled to Taiwan, fearing persecution for attacks on Hong Kong’s Legislative Council building and the Chinese government’s liaison office.

The Lam government dropped the bill and declared it “dead” but is yet to formally withdraw it.

Last Monday, Taiwan called for holding “democratic” elections in Hong Kong.

“It’s sad to see the rule of law eroding & the divide between the people & the government widening in #HongKong. The way forward is genuine democratic elections, not violence in the streets & #MTR stations. The freedom & #HumanRights of the people must be protected!” Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s foreign minister, said in a Twitter post, expressing support for the embattled people of Hong Kong.

Yaser added that the event was dedicated to “brothers and sistersof East Turkistan [Xinjiang] who are held in so-called re-education camps."

The Xinjiang region is home to 13 million Uighurs. The Turkic Muslim group, which makes up around 45% of Xinjiang’s population, has long accused Chinese authorities of cultural, religious and economic discrimination.

The event was jointly held by Rotary Club of Ankara International.