Three students yesterday were brought to a police station for alleged violations of the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) after two of them lifted up posters protesting President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policies and the third assisted by passing out flyers at an event that Ma attended.
The incident took place at the opening ceremony of the Asia University-affiliated Asian Museum of Modern Art in Greater Taichung, created by renowned Japanese designer Tadao Ando, where security had been tightened due to multiple incidents in recent days in which the president had shoes thrown at him.
All personal bags that were brought into the ceremony area were searched and no water or containers for liquids were allowed in.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
Despite the tight security, two students from the university, surnamed Huang (黃) and Chi (紀), suddenly stood up while Ma was giving a speech and unfolded their posters, one of which read: “Establish clear channels of communication and a public stance on issues,” while the other said: “No to black-box operations, amendments, breach of human rights.”
The students then ran toward the stage while shouting: “No to autocratic government, affirm the people’s efforts,” causing a stir among the crowd.
When they were taken outside by the security teams, Huang and Chi shouted: “We have our rights of freedom of speech.”
At the same time, a third student, surnamed Liu (劉), had been handing out protest flyers outside the auditorium and was also taken to the police station.
Although Ma continued with his speech, the incident, which occurred in front of Ando and 150 Japanese guests, apparently greatly embarrassed him.
Wufeng Precinct police chief Yu Hui-mao (余輝茂) said that because the three protesters had not applied for a permit allowing them to protest in a restricted area in which their actions may have posed a danger to the head of state, they were taken away by security, in line with the Special Service Act (特種勤務條例).
After consulting with prosecutors, the police said the case had been forwarded to the Greater Taichung District Court on charges of violating Article 68 of the Social Order Maintenance Act.
The three female students were released in the company of their lawyers after questioning.
University Academic Affairs director Chang Shao-liang (張少樑) said that while the university respected students’ rights to express their opinions, the timing of such expressions required some more thought.
The museum — which took six years to build — is an important project both for the school and the nation, Chang said, adding that the president’s appearance yesterday was in the capacity of a guest of honor representing the state.
That university students chose to stage a protest against an invited guest during a ceremony is inappropriate and whether the students would be punished by the school is up to its disciplinary committee, Chang said.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
STUMPED: KMT and TPP lawmakers approved a resolution to suspend the rate hike, which the government said was unavoidable in view of rising global energy costs The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it has a mandate to raise electricity prices as planned after the legislature passed a non-binding resolution along partisan lines to freeze rates. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers proposed the resolution to suspend the price hike, which passed by a 59-50 vote. The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) voted with the KMT. Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the KMT said the resolution is a mandate for the “immediate suspension of electricity price hikes” and for the Executive Yuan to review its energy policy and propose supplementary measures. A government-organized electricity price evaluation board in March
NOVEL METHODS: The PLA has adopted new approaches and recently conducted three combat readiness drills at night which included aircraft and ships, an official said Taiwan is monitoring China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) exercises for changes in their size or pattern as the nation prepares for president-elect William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comment at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, in response to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ting-yu’s (王定宇) questions. China continues to employ a carrot-and-stick approach, in which it applies pressure with “gray zone” tactics, while attempting to entice Taiwanese with perks, Tsai said. These actions aim to help Beijing look like it has
China is mischaracterizing UN Resolution 2758 for its own interests by conflating it with its “one China” principle, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for China and Taiwan Mark Lambert said on Monday. Speaking at a seminar held by the German Marshall Fund, Lambert called for support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in the international community at a time when China is increasingly misusing Resolution 2758. The resolution had a clear impact when it changed who occupied the China seat at the UN, Lambert said. “Today, however, the PRC [People’s Republic of China] increasingly mischaracterizes and misuses Resolution 2758 to serve its own interests,” Lambert said. “Beijing