Tai Ji Men members appealed once again to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco
Deputy Director Hou affirmed Tai Ji Men’s long term efforts to pursue legal and tax reform in Taiwan.
On October 14th, 2021, representatives of Tai Ji Men members from the Bay Area once again visited the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco (TECO) to submit a petition to Deputy Director Guonan Hou. Furthermore, on August 16th, representatives of Tai Ji Men members met with Director-General Minchi Lai of the TECO in San Francisco and Deputy Director Hou to ask for assistance in resolving the Tai Ji Men case. Both officers promised to forward the petition to Taiwanese President Tsai. Unfortunately, the Taiwan government seemed reluctant to correct the mistakes made in this miscarriage of justice case. Tai Ji Men members in the U.S. are extremely concerned because Taiwan’s image as a democratic country committed to human rights protection has been tarnished, and their family members are still suffering the injustice in their hometowns. They hoped President Tsai could hear their cries for help. On behalf of the TECO in San Francisco, Hou said he will faithfully communicate these messages to Taiwan, and hoped that Taiwan’s government would respond accordingly.
Deputy Director Hou expressed his gratitude for the positive contributions Tai Ji Men had made to the promotion of Taiwanese culture to the world. And he thought it was admirable that Tai Ji Men had been seeking rectification of their case and promoting Taiwan’s legal and tax reform in a peaceful manner. He hoped that Taiwan’s administrative offices would listen to the request and respond appropriately. He also hoped that Taiwan’s administrative laws would be amended so that the people would feel more secure about their rights and freedoms.
Nearly 20 Tai Ji Men members participated in this protest. Besides submitting their petition to Deputy Director Hou, they also protested and passed out flyers outside this TECO. They hoped that by publicizing the Tai Ji Men case, San Francisco residents could have a better understanding of how a few rogue Taiwanese officials used illegal taxation to violate the people’s freedom of belief. Tai Ji Men members hoped that by protesting, the Taiwan government would understand how the failure to resolve the Tai Ji Men case undermines Taiwan’s democracy and freedom.
Tai Ji Men member Jennifer said, “We are Tai Ji Men members in the Bay Area. We are studying or working long hours far away from our hometowns. It is difficult to live in a new land. In our fast-paced, high-pressure lives, we practice qigong, cultivate our hearts and moral character, and learn the wisdom to balance yin and yang at Tai Ji Men to help us improve our physical and mental health. For us, Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy is like our second home.”
Ting, also a Tai Ji Men member, has been practicing Tai Ji Men qigong for 29 years. More than 20 of her family members are Tai Ji Men members. After years of practice, they saw great improvement in their mental and physical health. The Tai Ji Men case has lasted for 25 years. There are 20 Tai Ji Men members in her family, so her family alone has dedicated more than 500 years fighting for a case that has been fabricated and fraudulent from the beginning. Ting’s mother, who is nearly 70 years old, used to protest on the street every morning, rain or sun before the Covid-19 pandemic. When Tai Ji Men’s land was scheduled to be auctioned last August by the Enforcement Agency’s Hsinchu Branch, members of the Tai Ji Men protested in front of the National Taxation Bureau (NTB) for a month, but were given the cold shoulder by the administration.
According to Tai Ji Men members, after 25 years of injustice, they have not been able to rectify the wrongful tax case, which was instigated in 1996 by prosecutor Kuan-jen Hou. The following year, the National Taxation Bureau (NTB) issued sky-high tax bills for 1991 to 1996 based on the indictment. It did not wait for a court decision or conduct any investigation of its own. In 2007, Taiwan’s Supreme Court found Tai Ji Men innocent of tax evasion and all other charges. However, Taiwan’s NTB disregarded the court decision and refused to revoke the erroneous tax bill and continued to impose illegal taxes based on the indictment. After years of legal recourse taken by Dr. Hong and Tai Ji Men members, in 2019, the NTB corrected the taxes to zero for five of the six years (1991, 1993 to 1996). However, the 1992 tax bill remained. And on August 21, 2020, Tai Ji Men’s land was auctioned and then confiscated by the Taiwanese government.
Tai Ji Men members questioned the validity of the tax evasion charges since Tai Ji Men Qigong Academy was established 55 years ago, and the nature of the disciples’ monetary gifts to the master remained the same. Why was the 1992 tax bill not revoked? Why were the monetary gifts for 1992 treated differently? They call on Taiwan’s NTB to revoke the questionable tax bill and return Tai Ji Men’s land intended for self-cultivation, return justice to Tai Ji Men Master and members, and severely punish officials who violated the law and abused their power.
Source : Patch
Tai Ji Men members asked TECO officials to convey the petition to President Tsai and asked for assistance in resolving the Tai Ji Men case that has lasted for 25 years.
Nearly 20 Tai Ji Men members protested and passed out flyers outside of the TECO in San Francisco.