Amid heavy security and restricted media access, protesters engaged in skirmishes with police outside Taipei Guest House yesterday where President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) signed two UN human rights covenants in the run-up to the first anniversary of his inauguration.
Holding banners reading “The Assembly and Parade Act is unconstitutional, human rights are disappearing” and “peaceful, rational and non-violent,” civic groups gathered outside the Chung Yung-fa Foundation at the intersection of Xinyi Road and Renai Road to protest the government’s proposed amendments to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法), which they said violated human rights.
Members of the Wild Strawberry Student Movement proceeded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to continue the protest, but were surrounded by police.
PHOTO: CNA
One student surnamed Chang (張) was blocked by a plainclothes police officer when she tried to cross Ketagalan Boulevard.
“Why can’t I cross the street?” she shouted.
A clash ensued.
She was holding a cartoon poster featuring Ma signing the two UN conventions with his right hand while holding a hammer with his left hand striking the Assembly and Parade Act and the Chingmei Human Rights Memorial Park, with the English words “double fisted hypocrite” written at the bottom.
The plainclothes police officer declined to identify himself. Four or five of his colleagues surrounded the student and told her she could not cross because she was “holding a protest banner” and that she was “heading toward a restricted area where the two conventions were to be signed.”
Chang said she would sue the plainclothes police officer or complain to media outlets once she discovered his identity.
Chang and members of the student movement managed to cross the street and join a group of a dozen protesters led by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City councilors outside the Taipei Guest House.
Chanting “police violate the Constitution” and holding banners reading “Ma Ying-jeou, don’t lie!” and “No to leaning toward China, yes to human rights,” protesters said Ma had signed the two covenants with one hand but broke them with the other. The protesters dispersed at 11:45am, shortly after Ma and his motorcade left the Taipei Guest House.
The media were barred from covering the signing ceremony, except for the state-owned Central News Agency and some TV stations on rotation to broadcast events attended by the president.
In a press release later, Ma said: “I want the public to understand that the government is committed to protecting human rights, and it is not lip service but real action. I now declare to the world that Taiwan’s protection of human rights will be on the same track as the international community and at the same pace.”
Ma said that over the next two years, his administration would complete a blanket review of all laws and regulations to find those that conflict with the two UN covenants. They will be amended as soon as possible, he said.
Ma described Taiwan’s human rights as reaching “adulthood” and said signing the two UN covenants marked a milestone in the country’s efforts to protect human rights.
Ma said the two covenants he signed should be sent to the UN and will take effect in three months. Although he expected difficulty along the way, he has signed the implementation decree, which became effective on April 24.
Participants at the ceremony included the heads of the five branches of government, foreign diplomats, lawmakers and a handful of civic representatives.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
RSS