Five men who said they were retired military personnel burst into yesterday’s public hearing on proposed pension reforms at the Examination Yuan to protest the lack of a military representative at the hearing.
The five knocked over tables and climbed over desks, yelling: “We’re from the military, why can’t we be here?”
The meeting was being attended by Examination Yuan officials, academic representatives and government officials.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
Examination Yuan Vice President Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) tried to calm the men by telling them that the draft amendments on the table for the day’s discussions did not include those affecting military service personnel, and that a separate meeting was planned to address military-related issues, to which military representatives had been invited.
However, his comments did little to appease the protesters, and so Lee called for a one-hour recess and left the room.
The men then turned on Taiwan Civil Service Reform Alliance spokesman Lin Yu-kai (林于凱), saying: “Who does he represent?”
Lin’s reply that he was there to give a voice to the children and grandchildren of retirees was mocked by the men.
Examination Yuan Secretary-General Lee Jih-shyuan (李繼玄) then invited the protesters to sit down and raise their questions when the hearing resumed.
Lee Yi-yang reappeared at about 10:50am and told the protesters, who were sitting to one side of the room, that he had invited Lee Jih-shyuan to represent the interests of younger government officials.
He then dismissed the hearing on the grounds that order could not be restored in the room.
The protesters said that they were willing to let the meeting continue and asked why it was dismissed.
The protesters and several of the officials at the hearing followed Lee Yi-yang as he went upstairs, banging on his office door and protesting the dismissal of the hearing.
The five protesters said they would consider protesting again today outside the Examination Yuan, before returning to the main hall to sit and chant slogans.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) posted on Facebook that the protesters appeared confused.
“The hearing at the Examination Yuan was about the reform of government functionaries’ pensions. So there was no need for teachers or military personnel to be represented … those military retirees were confused about the situation,” he wrote, comparing the situation to going to a KFC outlet and then protesting because one cannot order a McDonald’s McChicken sandwich.
Wang called on Examination Yuan President Wu Jin-lin (伍錦霖) to investigate how the protesters were able to enter the building and reach the fourth floor, where the meeting was being held, noting that there are 130 police officers stationed at the Examination Yuan.
“Who guided [the protesters] and permitted them to go from the second floor up to the meeting room on the fourth floor?” Wang wrote.
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
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
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
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