Activists yesterday clashed with police during a protest outside Premier Jiang Yi-huah’s (江宜樺) residence, asking him to halt construction work at Losheng (Happy Life) Sanatorium and rebuild demolished buildings on the site.
“Premier Jiang, please save Losheng, halt the construction, rebuild the sanatorium,” dozens of members of the Youth Alliance for Losheng shouted as they clashed with police outside the premier’s residence in Taipei.
The activists arrived outside Jiang’s residence at about 6am without prior notice, hoping to see Jiang and deliver their petition to him before he left for work.
Photo: Hou Po-ching, Taipei Times
However, though the shouting attracted the attention of Jiang, who looked out from a second-floor window for a few seconds, he neither met with the students nor took their petition.
Police quickly removed the protesters by force and arrested 14.
Jiang made no comment on the protest when he left home at about 8am.
“We came here to see Jiang, because when we went to the Executive Yuan on Feb. 27, he simply ignored us,” Lin Ching (林沁), a National Taiwan University (NTU) student and a member of the alliance, told reporters. “In March last year, the government promised that construction at Losheng Sanatorium — suspended due to landslides — would not resume until they find a way to solve the landslide issue. However, construction resumed last week.”
“As a political science professor at NTU, Jiang visited Losheng in 2007 and signed a petition to support its preservation. We want to remind him of the promise he made, and ask him to host talks to resolve the issue,” Lin said.
Losheng Sanatorium, located in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Sinjhuang District (新莊), was built in the 1930s for people with leprosy.
A movement to preserve the sanatorium complex began in 2004 when it was selected as the site for a Mass Rapid Transit system maintenance depot and was to be completely demolished.
In 2007, a compromise plan allowed for the preservation of a small part of the complex, while the rest was to be demolished.
However, work has stopped several times due to landslides.
Another NTU student, Lin Hsiu-tung (林秀芃), accused Jiang of “not wanting to face the mistakes that the government made.”
“He saw us from his second-floor window, but would not meet us or speak with us,” Lin said.
Of the 14 students arrested, 13 were released soon after, while 21-year-old NTU student Kuo Kuan-chun (郭冠均) was charged with violations of the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法).
Several activists rallied outside the Taipei District Court in support of Kuo and accused the police of brutality as Kuo appeared in court.
At about 4:30pm, Kuo walked free as the judge cleared him of any wrongdoing.
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one