Taipei defends Taiwan academic attacked by Chinese media for article

Taipei Taiwan’s government on Thursday vowed to defend an academic accused by Chinese media of breaking Hong Kong’s national security law by writing an article mainland media claim was pro-Hong Kong independence. "Our country is a sovereign state and Hong Kong’s national security law is not applicable in the society of Taiwan. Not to mention our people,” Chiu Chui-cheng, a spokesperson for Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which handles dealings with Beijing, told a press conference. Wu Rwei-ren, a researcher at Academia Sinica-Institute of Taiwan History in Taipei, wrote the article, entitled "For an Unfinished Revolution,” in early 2020. On January 6, a Chinese state newspaper in Hong Kong, Ta Kung Pao, criticised the Hong Kong Journalists Association and the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Hong Kong for awarding Wu a human rights prize for the article.  Ta Kung Pao reported that Wu could face up to life imprisonment if found to have broken Hong Kong’s national security law. (Agencies)