Taipei - Taiwan said Friday it would ban a visit by exiled Uighur Chinese dissident Rebiya Kadeer because her organization has links with terrorist groups. The decision, approved by Premier Wu Den-yih, is expected to please Beijing but irk Taiwan's pro-independence groups, including the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which have pressured the government to allow Kadeer in.
On Wednesday, the US-based Kadeer accepted the invitation from the human rights group "Guts United, Taiwan" to visit Taiwan in December to talk about China's repression of Uighurs.
Speaking in a parliament session, Interior Minister Chiang Yih-hwa said: "Out of national interest, we have recommended that the government bar Kadeer from visiting."
The reason, he said, is that the World Uighur Congress led by Kadeer has close links with the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, which is listed by China, the US and the United Nations as a terrorist group.
Chiang said the ban is in line with Taiwan's immigration law, which bars entry by foreigners if their visits would endanger Taiwan's national interest, public security and social order.
Taiwan recently irked China by approving the visit of the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, and by showing a film on Kadeer. The ban on her entry was expected to pacify Beijing.
The "Guts United, Taiwan" group denounced the government for kowtowing to China, and said it will apply again for Kadeer's visit.
"Taiwan is a country of freedom and democracy. The government's banning Kadeer's visit has not only hurt Taiwan's international image, but also destroyed the fruit of the fight by Taiwan's people for democracy," it said.
"Taiwan government's showing loyalty to China has turned Taiwan into a province of China. Our determination to invite Ms Kadeer remains unchanged, and we will apply again," it said in a statement.
China accused Kadeer of is inciting the July 5 riots in the Uighur-majority province of Xinjiang in north-western China. Kadeer denied the charge, saying the protests were the result of China's repression of the Uighurs.
