The National Nuclear Abolition Action Platform yesterday accused the government of using state violence to evict anti-nuclear protesters who occupied Taipei’s Zhongxiao W Road on Sunday evening into early yesterday morning.
Tens of thousands of people on Sunday afternoon marched in an anti-nuclear protest march from Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building to Zhongxiao W Road in front of the Taipei Railway Station, where they lay down or sat in the road, paralyzing traffic in an area usually thronging with cars and buses.
At about 9pm on Sunday, the National Nuclear Abolition Action Platform, which organized the protest, said it was not satisfied with the announcement that the govenment would halt construction of the two reactors at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant because it was made by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), rather than the Executive Yuan.
Photo: David Chang, EPA
It announced that the protesters would continue paralyze the road until they get an acceptable official response.
At about 10:30pm, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the city government would use any means to restore traffic for Taipei residents by yesterday morning.
Despite being warned in advance by protest organizers that a forced eviction could take place after midnight, more than 1,000 protesters remained sitting on the road in raincoats, with their arms locked together.
Photo: Reuters
After advising the protesters to leave on their own accord at about 12:30am yesterday, the police turned water cannons on the crowd at 2:47am, followed by police forcibly dragging away the protesters at about 2:50am, gradually herding the crowd from Guanquan Road toward Zhongshan S Road.
Several clashes broke out as rows of police with batons and shields in hand forcefully pushed the protesters to move as protesters chanted: “Terminate the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and return power to the people,” “the people are unarmed so the police should not use violence” and “Police please step back.”
Sunflower movement student leaders Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷) and Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) were pulled from the ground and taken into a police bus, and many other protesters were forced to leave the street after being pulled up.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Protesters shouted: “There are children in the tents” when the police got close to tents with children in them, but the police continued herding the crowd and cleared most of Zhongxiao W Road by about 5am, with only about 100 protesters on the ground encircled by the police at the intersection with Zhongshan S Road.
During the eviction, police fired water cannons directly at the protesters more than a dozen times.
At about 6am, protesters were still being dragged or carried away one-by-one, and several reporters were also treated violently as they were evicted near the intersection, with a few of them banned from taking photographs, or hit with batons by the police, causing physical injuries or damage to equipment.
Traffic was restored on Zhongxiao W Road at about 6:50am, and some remaining protesters were forced to move to Zhongshan S Road.
Later yesterday, the National Nuclear Abolition Action Platform issued a statement saying that “Mayor Hau promised to return a normal life to citizens, but the danger caused by nuclear power has the real, serious impact on people’s lives.”
“Hau gave up the peaceful measure of asking the Cabinet to make an official and positive response, but ordered the police to use force against unarmed citizens, which is the worst measure to treat the people,” it said, adding that it “strongly condemns the government of using inappropriate violence.”
It urged protesters who were harmed or treated inappropriately during yesterday’s eviction to contact the platform for medical and judicial assistance, and urged people to submit photographic evidence of the eviction process.
Separately, Taipei Police Zhongzheng First Precinct investigative team head Chou Yu-wen (周郁文) said five people were arrested and 40 were injured early yesterday when police began dispersing the protesters.
National Taiwan University Hospital said it had treated 26 people, most of them with external injuries.
Some of the injured were also taken to Taipei City Hospital, where three of them were hospitalized for observation and 11 were treated and released, according to Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics.
Additional reporting by CNA
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft