Taiwanese Human Rights Association of Canada THRAC Work Report 2010

Water Dripping on a Stone t

This is how I describe our work for human rights it is very small, and the impact we make is almost invisible but we know that the water finally will wear away the stone.

Taiwan
In early 2010 we continued to work on the Guo Guanying case on behalf of the Association of Taiwanese Organizations in Toronto (ATOT ) . Lack of response from our Taiwan partners led to the issue being dropped in the spring. On April 24 we sent a letter to KMT Chairman Ma and the ROC Minister of Justice in support of Michael Tsai . He was being charged with revealing state secrets and impeding foreign relations while he was Minister of Defense. We received no reply but to date no charges have been laid against Michael Tsai. On October 14 we wrote to the Head of the Judicial Yuan, Lai Haomin , in support of President Chens application for bail. We received a brief pro-forma reply. In December Michael visited President Chen at the Tu Cheng Detention Centre, and met with staff at his office in Taipei to discuss ways we can support him. You can write to him at: 33307 2

China
THRAC has played a strong role in co-operating with those brave exiles who fight for human rights and democracy in China. Human Rights is a common struggle we share with them. As long as China does not respect human rights Taiwan can never be safe. We are an active part of the China Rights Network, adding our name to letters in support of Chinese human rights fighters like Liu Xiaopo and attending demonstrations at the Chinese Consulate. When CRN was invited to attend a special dialogue with the Dalai Lama on October 22 we obtained invitations for Taiwanese organizations as well. Michael Stainton, Ed Chung and Austin Yan attended. Though we did not have a chance to speak to him, His Holiness did say he knew there were people from Taiwan at the dialogue. On July 7 Michael Staintons letter criticizing Harper and Ignatieffs pro-China policies was published in the National Post. On October 15 Michael Stainton organized a panel at the Canadian Asian Studies Association annual conference in Ottawa, on Working for Human Rights in China from Outside of China. Scott Simon, President of CASA, made it the Conference Presidential Panel.

Canada
In May the Harper government proposed Bill C-23 Elimination of Pardons for Serious Crimes Act. It proposes to bar certain categories of people from even applying for a pardon. Like the Chinese Immigration Act opposed by George Leslie Mackay, this seemingly simple law is an insidious violation of human rights because it discriminates a priori against people not on the basis of individual merit or demerit, but as a group. THRAC executive agreed to make a brief to the House of Commons against this feature of Bill C-23. We have written members of Parliament and asked to appear before the committee still reviewing this Bill. On October 15 we co-sponsored a talk by former Premier You Si-kun at the York Centre for Asian Research, on The Impact of ECFA on Taiwan-China Relations and Peace in East Asia. He was also interviewed on Radio Canada International Chinese service. In October Michael met with planning staff of the new Canadian Museum of Human Rights about giving them a collection of artifacts on the struggle for human rights and democracy in Taiwan. They are interested but still in planning stage.

General THRAC Executive 2010

President - Michael Stainton Vice-president & Secretary - Austin Yan Membership - Su Cheng-hsuan Financial - Susie Tseng Media watch - Piling Lin

Simplified Financial Statement December 31, 2010

Taiwanese Credit Union Balance (including $500 shares) Cash to hand Subtract outstanding cheques : Balance as of December 31, 2010
$2,793.26 $165.00 ($276.55) $2,681.71

We are a member of the Association of Taiwanese Organizations in Toronto (ATOT) In January Austin set up a THRAC email account - thracanada@gmail.com We have begun to organize a Media Watch network, and need to do more work on this. In 2011 we will continue to work these, and strengthen our co-operation with partner groups in Canada, Taiwan and in the China Rights Networks. We need to do more to educate, empower and support our members to take initiatives on human rights issues, and divide up our work better among our executive. We hope we will continue to have your support. Michael Stainton January 15, 2011