National Sun Yat-sen University’s student council yesterday redecorated the campus’ Sizihwan Tunnel (西子灣隧道) with messages of support for pro-democracy advocates in Hong Kong, as the Kaohsiung school reaffirmed it would ensure student safety and freedom of expression.
The move came after a Chinese couple on Friday tore down some messages posted on a “Lennon wall” on campus.
“The spirit of the ‘Lennon wall’ is freedom of expression. If a post gets torn down, we will put up a hundred more. The student council will continue to exalt the spirit of freedom of expression inside the tunnel,” council president Chuang Hao-chun (莊皓鈞) said.
Photo: Fang Chih-hsien, Taipei Times
As the university guarantees freedom of expression for everyone, it would not interfere as long as the messages posted are not slanderous or insulting, student affairs department head Yang Ching-li (楊靜利) said, adding that the university has set up a team to patrol the area to ensure that posting is done peacefully.
The council has withdrawn a complaint against the Chinese couple after they apologized for ripping down some of the messages.
The couple was spotted at about 4pm on Friday tearing down messages.
Although students asked them to stop, the couple continued to pull down messages and scatter them on the ground, which constituted vandalism, the university said.
The student council, which had initiated the “Lennon wall” effort, filed a complaint against the couple, Kaohsiung police said.
Police found the couple and their young child on Saturday in Kenting (墾丁), Pingtung County.
The couple were taken to Kaohsiung’s Gushan Precinct for questioning and admitted tearing down the messages, police said.
They apologized to student council members for their “improper behavior” in the presence of a lawyer and precinct officers, police said.
The case has been closed, as the complaint was withdrawn and the dispute is considered settled, police said.
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