Dissident Hsu, Barred by Taiwan, Leaves for U.S.

Self-exiled Taiwanese dissident Hsu Hsin-liang, who was barred from returning home to help the opposition in Saturday’s election, left Japan for the United States on Sunday, his spokesman in Tokyo said.

Hsu, 45, tried twice in nine days to return to Taiwan, where he faces sedition charges, but the Taiwanese government succeeded in blocking his return. He has lived in the Los Angeles area for seven years and publishes the Taiwan Times of Alhambra.

Before leaving Tokyo, Hsu praised the election success of the Democratic Progressive Party, which scored some victories against the ruling Kuomintang, but he urged more complete democratic reform.

“Although the election results were a very good first success, the most important next step will be to fight for 100% democracy,” the spokesman quoted him as saying.

The spokesman said Hsieh Tsung-min, another opposition figure who traveled with Hsu and also was not allowed into Taiwan, will keep trying to return to Taipei from Japan until his Japanese visa runs out Dec. 18.