Since when is crossing a road on a green light an offence in Taiwan? When a Chinese envoy is in town, apparently, as suggested by an incident on Saturday in which a group of college students could not cross the road for fear of being apprehended by police.
Video footage recorded by the students that came to light on Tuesday (www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUsp2fj0BDQ and www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K-i1ZbcwGA) shows a group of men in plain clothes forming a human wall to prevent a score of students from crossing a road to express support for a “Jasmine Revolution” in China by shouting slogans outside a Taipei hotel where Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) was dining with former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰).
A scuffle broke out as the unidentified men, allegedly plainclothes police officers, insisted on blocking the students’ way and threatened to take them to a police station. At least one student said he suffered bruises in the fray.
While some may be quick to dismiss the episode as a small incident involving just a handful of students, the truth is that the incident constitutes a severe violation of human rights and could have lasting repercussions if it is brushed aside.
First, Article 4 of the Police Act (警察職權行使法) stipulates that police must either be in uniform or identify themselves when on duty and says people can reject police demands if the officers fail to identify themselves first. Since the group of men were not in uniform and did not identify themselves to the students, what authority did they have to obstruct the students from crossing the street?
If the students appeared to be violating the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), where was the due procedure that requires police to give three warnings before resorting to force to disperse the group? Not to mention that even if the students were to shout at the top of their lungs, it was unlikely that Chen would have either heard them or been bothered, so what were the students doing wrong by wanting to express support for a Jasmine Revolution in China through a few chanted slogans?
Sadly, it seems, whenever Chen graces Taiwan with his presence, this nation’s democratic facade crumbles, revealing a squalid imitation of Chinese repression of freedom of expression and human rights. Indeed, so long as law-enforcement personnel are not held responsible for alleged violations of human rights, history will continue to repeat itself.
Saturday’s incident brought to mind events during Chen’s first visit to Taiwan in 2008: an unidentified man barging into a room in the Grand Hotel where protesters were staying; police snatching away Republic of China and Tibetan flags that protesters had wrapped around their fingers; police forcing a Zhongshan N Road record store playing Taiwanese songs to close its door. None of the officers or officials in any of these events have been punished or even called to account for their actions.
Saturday’s incident has caused many to wonder whether there will soon come a day when people on the streets will be randomly questioned and have their freedom of mobility obstructed by police, whether in plainclothes or uniform.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) set up a Facebook account earlier this year in a bid to bridge the gap between him and young people. That gap appears to be widening rapidly.
As the saying goes: Action speaks louder than words, and the latest incident involving college students is yet another a negative mark for the Ma administration’s human rights record.
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