A group of presidents from 52 universities on Friday issued a joint statement calling on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to respond to student-led protesters’ demands as the standoff between them and the Ma administration over the cross-strait trade service pact continued.
In the statement, the 52-member Associations of National Universities of Taiwan urged Ma to engage in student protest leaders organizing a sit-in at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei in dialogue as soon as possible to defuse the row.
Association director-general Yang Hung-duen (楊弘敦), who heads National Sun Yat-sen University, said that while the president should face up to the protest and talk to the students, the latter also need to remain rational and calm while making their concerns heard.
The Association of National Universities of Science and Technology and the Association of Private Universities and Colleges of Technology also voiced their support for the anti-service trade pact activists, with National Taipei University of Technology President Yao Leeh-ter (姚立德) saying that students’ passion and concerns have been expressed clearly and he believes the Legislative and Executive yuans would reassess the possibility of renegotiating the agreement with China.
However, Yao also asked the students to return to their classrooms and give the legislative floor back to the lawmakers, saying that restoring the operation of the democratic institution it is ultimately the best course of action.
The associations’ statements were followed by another issued by National Taiwan University’s Math Department that also urged the head of state to hold a summit with the students, but was unequivocally supportive of the legislative occupation.
As of the time of its issuance, 25 of the 34 math professors at the National Taiwan University department had signed the statement declaring their support for the protesting students, it said.
The statement added that the professors stand with the students and the public, and support their right to oversee the government and the legitimacy of the demonstrators’ actions.
“We are not against the signing of the service trade agreement per se, since we do live in a world being swept by globalization, but the signing and review processes must be transparent and executed with due process. This is why we support what the students are demanding, which is rejecting any agreement signed ‘in a black box,’” it said.
The professors emphasized that the younger generation are the ones who will be most affected by the pact, so they have the right to voice concerns about, question and supervise how it is singed.
The statement also slammed remarks made earlier by a high-ranking Ministry of Economic Affairs official, who described the agreement as “beneficial to the students because after its implementation, they can work in China and earn NT$52,000 a month, rather than [the] NT$22,000 [they would make in Taiwan].”
“Is sending our educated youth to China for work the government’s only solution for the nation’s low wage and wealth gap problems?” the math academics asked.
Also expressing its unwavering supportive of the students was the National Alliance of Parents Organization, which issued a statement yesterday afternoon calling for dialogue and praising the students’ civic consciousness.
The alliance said that it is deeply worried about the students’ safety, but at the same time “immensely proud” of them.
“The government said you have been instigated to commit ‘irrational violence’ ... but we know that you are autonomous and exercising your civic consciousness. What the students are protesting against is the retreat of democracy forced by a legislative body no longer representing people’s will,” it said.
“Our parents were worried when we stood up against authoritarian rule 30 years ago… Today, we as parents also worry that the protesters’ safety might be at risk. So we demand that the government start a dialogue with the protestors soon and promise that it will not use force to evict the students from the legislature, as well as acquiesce to the demonstrators’ requests for just, democratic procedures,” the parental alliance said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique