Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday accused the National Security Bureau (NSB) of monitoring hundreds of students, academics and activists involved in protests over land expropriation in Dapu Borough (大埔), Miaoli County.
“[The monitoring] is a modern-day White Terror. We ask the national security agencies to immediately stop such monitoring,” DPP Legislator Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) told a press conference.
Chen said the watch list included film directors Yang Ya-che (楊雅吉吉), Leon Dai (戴立忍) and Ko I-cheng (柯一正), university student group leaders Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷) and Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) and several professors, including Hsu Shih-jung (徐世榮), Liao Pen-chuan (廖本全) and Frida Tsai (蔡培慧).
Photo: CNA
The people on the watch list were either being wiretapped, spied upon or investigated by police or bureau investigators, and anyone on the list who shows up at events attended by President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) or Miaoli County Commissioner Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) would be closely watched and removed, if necessary, Chen said.
The NSB has “instructed” the military, the military police, the police, prosecutors, the Ministry of Justice’s Bureau of Investigation and the Ministry of Education to gather information about people who were active in the protests, the lawmaker said.
However, on Monday, the National Police Agency denied the accusation by Lala Lin (林羿含), a singer who performed at an Aug. 16 rally in Miaoli, that she had been put on a watch list and police officers had visited her home in Greater Tainan.
DPP Legislator Wu Yi-chen (吳宜臻) said the NSB’s actions have violated the public’s freedom of speech and right to assembly. Students should not be placed on a watch list just for attending protests, Wu said.
The NSB issued a press release yesterday denying the accusations. The statement said the bureau was in charge of intelligence gathering and the planning and execution of special tasks.
“The bureau does not engage in those practices that go beyond its authorization,” it said.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
RSS