The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said legal action by the Ministry of Education against students is a “big joke,” after a group broke into the ministry building late on Thursday night in a protest over proposed adjustments to high-school curriculum guidelines.
“The ministry broke the law with the proposed curriculum guidelines, and now it is bringing legal action against students,” DPP spokesperson Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎) said. “If Minister of Education Wu Se-hwa (吳思華) does not withdraw the action against the students, he will destroy his image and blight his conscience, becoming a dirty politician with a bad name that will follow him for the rest of his life.”
Thirty-three people, including three journalists, were detained by police after they entered the building. The protesters were released late on Friday after posting bail ranging from NT$10,000 to NT$30,000. The journalists were placed under house arrest after each refused to pay NT$10,000 bail.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday reiterated DPP demands that the ministry halt its plan to implement the curriculum guidelines by next month, adding that the ministry should withdraw its legal action against the protesters and the journalists.
“The ministry has set a poor example by threatening legal action against students and journalists,” she added.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus expressed its support for the ministry’s actions.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
“The protesting students stormed into the minister’s office and occupied it,” the caucus said. “The law cannot be distorted by politics, so we firmly stand with the ministry’s decision to bring charges against any who breach the law.”
KMT Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福) displayed a photograph that has been circulating online, showing a receipt for NT$1,495 worth of umbrellas, suggesting that the DPP had made the purchase.
Lin said the DPP likely masterminded the break-in, accusing the party of instigating students and at the same time releasing a joint statement urging the ministry to withdraw its legal challenge.
Photo: CNA
Lin said Tsai, as a legal scholar and presidential candidate, “has unscrupulously used the situation for her own political interests and flagrantly showed contempt for the nation’s laws.”
KMT Legislator Lee Guei-min (李貴敏) said that a party with opinions about the curriculum guidelines should propose its ideas in the legislature, not push young people who have little understanding of the law to the front lines, presenting them with the opportunity to destroy the rule of law and democracy.
Lee, who has a background in law, said the protesters’ actions constituted an “intrusion” according to the Criminal Code, so “if the ministry fails to take legal action, it would be tantamount to saying that similar actions are legally permitted.”
However, Lee said freedom of the press should be protected and questions over whether the journalists arrested had breached any laws needed further investigation.
KMT presidential candidate Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) called on “the party behind the protests” to “get its hands off” young people.
“The political party behind” the protesters’ actions should not “hide behind protesting young people,” which is unthinkable in a democratic nation, Hung said.
Tsai said Hung should exercise caution when speaking and refrain from twisting the facts.
“The real cause of the problem is the mishandling — by the government, and especially the ministry — of the curriculum adjustment plan, which triggered hostility and disputes,” Tsai said.
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
More than 8,000 people took part in a rally in Taipei yesterday to express support for more defense spending, after the opposition slashed the Cabinet’s proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.6 billion) special defense budget and capped it at NT$780 billion. The demonstrators urged the Cabinet to propose another bill. Taiwan Economic Democracy Union convener Lai Chung-chiang (賴中強) said the main problem of the passed budget plan is the removal of funding for critical items, not just that the total amount is smaller. Critical budget items included purchasing or developing uncrewed vehicles, Strong Bow (強弓) missile systems, additional ammunition, artificial intelligence-powered combat systems and Taiwan-US
RSS