Dozens of activists vaulted the front gate of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning in protest over the controversial free economic pilot zones draft bill being put on yesterday’s legislative agenda, but were dispersed by police, who handcuffed and arrested some of the demonstrators about an hour after they jumped the fence.
A group of about 30 people, representing at least five activist groups, including the Restoration of Taiwan Social Justice, the Wing of Radical Politics, the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan and Democracy Kuroshio, climbed over the front gate before a plenary session that was scheduled to begin at 9am to protest against the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) placing the free economic pilot zones bill on the agenda and its alleged intention to ram it through.
The groups called for public vigilance over what they said was President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration’s colluding with the Chinese government to remove the barriers between China and Taiwan under the pretext of promoting free trade and economic growth.
Photo: CNA
They said industry upgrades and developing the nation’s competitive industries are what Taiwan really needs.
The protesters who made it over the fence then sat in the Legislative Yuan’s front plaza in front of the building’s heavily guarded entrance.
After four warnings from the police, some of who held plaques saying that the protesters’ actions were illegal, scores of officers started physically removing the protestors from the plaza.
The result was chaotic scuffles, during which at least two protesters were injured and sent to a hospital, while two more were handcuffed.
The student protesters regrouped after being evicted and began a “walking demonstration” around the complex at about 11am.
There were no further attempts to gain entry to the complex and no further arrests.
The groups issued a statement accusing the police of failing to deploy female police officers to remove female protesters and officers’ use of unnecessary force.
They also accused Taipei’s Zhongzheng First Police Precinct Chief Fang Yang-ning (方仰寧), who gave orders during the dispersal of the protesters, of lying to vilify the activists. They said that Fang repeatedly said in a loud voice that the protesters should not attack police, even though the demonstration was non-violent.
The protesters remained outside the front of the legislative compound until the legislative session was adjourned.
A subsidiary of a Hong Kong-based company that has lost control of two critical ports on the Panama Canal said it is seeking US$2 billion of compensation in damages from Panama over its “illegal” takeover of the ports. Panama Ports Co, a unit of Hong Kong’s CK Hutchison Holdings (長江和記實業), on Friday said in a statement that it is demanding the sum under international arbitration proceedings that it had already started. The Panamanian government last week seized control of the Balboa and Cristobal ports on each end of the Panama Canal, after the country’s Supreme Court declared earlier that a concession allowing
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
RSS