Several civic groups yesterday demanded that the Assembly and Parade Law (
"The law is supposed to ensure the public's freedom to assemble and stage rallies; instead, it has become a means for the police to suppress public opinion," said Liu Ching-yi
Lin made the remarks at a hearing organized by Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Lai Shin-yuan (
Huang Te-pei (
"Last May, our labor union was protesting in front of the headquarters of Chunghwa Telecom. It was a legal action, but the police tried to disperse us," said Simon Chang (張緒中), president of Chunghwa Telecom's Workers' Union.
Under current regulations, the police are given the power to permit or deny applications for assembly, restrict protesters' activities, maintain order and dismiss an assembly, but no norm is given as to how this power should be exercised.
The alliance called for cancelation of the regulation that people cannot assemble without a permit, demanding that this be replaced by registration.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (
She suggested that the government to abolish the Assembly and Parade Law.
Liu said that the freedom of assembly, which allows the public to voice their opinion, is a very important element of a civil society.
"It's hard to build up a real civil society if people can't shake off the fear of being dispersed, arrested, or indicted because of their participation in a gathering," Liu said.
Vice Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (
"I know the Assembly and Parade Law is not perfect. However, the main purpose of it is still to defend people's freedom of assembly, and maintaining order is supplementary. We still need the law, but we are open to making changes," Chien said.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
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