Members of the Wild Strawberry Student Movement yesterday slammed the indictment of National Taiwan University sociology professor Lee Ming-tsung (李明璁) for allegedly violating the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) during a sit-in last November.
Movement spokesman Chang Chih-hao (張之豪) said the students regretted the development, but said the indictment was “predictable.”
“We realize after months of peaceful protest that this government did not feel any remorse for what they did,” Chang said during an English interview with the Taipei Times. “They still don’t think they have done anything wrong.”
Chang was referring to the manner in which law enforcement officers dealt with demonstrations against the visit of Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) in November.
Lee was one of the initiators of the sit-in in front of the Executive Yuan on Nov. 6 along with a group of students who dubbed themselves the Wild Strawberry Student Movement. They called on the government to scrap the requirement in the assembly Act that rally organizers must seek government approval before staging a demonstration. Participants were evicted by the police for not applying to hold the sit-in, but reconvened later at National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall.
The protesters had demanded that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) apologize and that National Police Agency Director-General Wang Cho-chun (王卓鈞) and then-National Security Bureau director-general Tsai Tsao-ming (蔡朝明) step down for what they called the “excessive force” police used against demonstrators.
Chang said the indictment revealed “the authoritarian mindset” of the government as prosecutors still considered Lee “the chief instigator” of the movement while ignoring the fact that college students in the movement were “well-informed” and could take responsibility for their own actions.
“We were not following Lee. We were following our heart,” Chang said, adding that the students regarded Lee as a “comrade” rather than a “leader.”
Chang said the students would take measures to voice concern about the indictment, but did not elaborate.
The indictment, issued on May 15 by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, stated that Lee “is well aware that assembly and parades are prohibited without submitting an application in advance,” but did not do so when he led hundreds of students and civic group members to the sit-in.
Although police officers held up signs several times informing Lee and other demonstrators that their demonstration was in violation of the Act, Lee “refused to heed the warnings given by the police and continued to lead the crowd in protest,” the indictment read.
Prosecutors alleged Lee violated Article 29 of the Act, which states that a leader of demonstrators who refuse to disassemble after being told to do so by authorities may face up to two years in prison.
Lee’s attorney, Kao Yung-cheng (高涌誠), yesterday declined to comment on the indictment.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS