Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) yesterday dismissed the idea of establishing a protest zone during upcoming high-level cross-strait talks in the city as “premature,” saying it would be unconstitutional to deprive people of the right to assemble outside a designated area.
“It is strange to set up a place like that when no protest application has been filed. Such thinking is very premature,” he said. “It is like when you invite somebody to dinner. The guest must accept the invitation first. And if the city wanted protesters to stage demonstrations at a designated area, they might not want to do it there. Do you want me to violate the Constitution and strip people of their right to assemble and parade?”
Hu made the remarks in response to media inquiries about a Chinese-language United Daily News report yesterday that quoted Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) spokesman Maa Shaw-chang (馬紹章) as saying that the Taichung City Government would set up a protest zone for the upcoming meeting. The report said the area would be 30,000 pings (nearly 100,000m2) and free to enter.
On Nov. 24, Hu promised to find a protest area that would satisfy the needs of all involved and at the same time ensure public safety. SEF Secretary-General Kao Koong-lian (高孔廉) said on Nov. 25 that there would be an area set up where different opinions would be expressed.
Maa mentioned on Wednesday that there would be a kind of “opinion plaza” where no admission would be required for the public to have their voices heard.
Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) yesterday said she agreed with Hu’s new stance because it did not make sense to prohibit protesters from staging demonstrations outside a certain area.
Lai said that the government respected freedom of speech and would protect this right in accordance with the law.
She said she believed the government agency supervising the implementation of the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) would allow protesters to fully express their opinions. She also supported and trusted the professionalism of the law enforcement offices, she said.
“If necessary, we will recommend that the supervisory agency of the Assembly and Parade Act negotiate with civic groups so they can gather and protest freely,” she said.
Lai said she did not know anything about a protest zone nor was she certain who proposed the idea. She said that she did not think it made sense to set up such an area before applications to protest were filed.
MAC Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said the Taichung City Government never promised to, nor could it, set up the zone because it would violate the Assembly and Parade Act. However, the city could offer assistance, including negotiating the route, area, time and scale of a protest after applications are filed.
Meanwhile, Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Hu Sing-hwa (胡興華) yesterday said the agreement on quality checks of agricultural products that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait seek to sign during the meeting was just a “principle accord” and would not affect the 830 agricultural products banned from importation from China.
The two sides will address four issues in the next round of cross-strait negotiations: fishing industry cooperation, quality checks of agricultural products, cross-strait cooperation on inspection and certification and the prevention of double taxation.
Kao is scheduled to lead a delegation to Fuzhou, China, on Thursday next week for preparatory negotiations on the four agreements.
The delegation will arrange the details of SEF Chairman Chiang Pin-kung’s (江丙坤) meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林), icluding the date, location and schedule.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS