The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) yesterday rebutted accusations from the Taiwan Society and others that it was breaching freedom of expression by issuing a letter of inquiry to the group that organized a major rally held last Saturday.
The rally drew tens of thousands of participants protesting the government’s cross-strait policies, and called on President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to defend Taiwan’s sovereignty, save the economy and help to accelerate the adoption of “sunshine bills.”
“We received a letter from the MOI on Monday saying that someone filed a complaint with them that said [the Taiwan Society] may have violated the Civil Associations Act [人民團體法] by organizing the Aug. 30 rally and asked them to reply within 10 days,” Taiwan Society secretary-general Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) told the Taipei Times via telephone.
The person who filed the complaint said the Taiwan Society may have violated the law because the organization is registered as a social group, which could mean it may not engage in political activities.
“But we applied and received a rally permit from the appropriate government agencies, and the purpose of the rally was about social interests,” Lo said. “Rallies are a way for people to express their opinions. What the MOI is doing to us makes us feel that they’re trying to get revenge.”
The Democratic Progressive Party’s Department of Culture and Information director Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) also criticized the MOI, saying that “It is ridiculous to say that a social group may not hold rallies on political themes — there is simply no such restriction in the Civil Associations Act.”
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Justin Chou (周守訓) echoed the view, and said that the way the ministry was handling the complaint would “remind people of the authoritarian rule during the White Terror.”
In response, director of the ministry’s Department of Social Affairs Tseng Chung-ming (曾中明) told a press conference yesterday afternoon that asking for an explanation from the Taiwan Society was just part of standard procedure.
“We understand that our friends at the Taiwan Society may not feel very comfortable after receiving the letter, however, we ask for your understanding that handling complaints from people is an unavoidable responsibility of the Department of Social Affairs,” Tseng said.
However, Tseng also said that there may have been some problems with the way the issue was handled.
“We will humbly accept criticism and opinions from all, and will take care of similar issues more flexibly to meet public expectations,” he said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG
Taiwanese were praised for their composure after a video filmed by Taiwanese tourists capturing the moment a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Japan’s Aomori Prefecture went viral on social media. The video shows a hotel room shaking violently amid Monday’s quake, with objects falling to the ground. Two Taiwanese began filming with their mobile phones, while two others held the sides of a TV to prevent it from falling. When the shaking stopped, the pair calmly took down the TV and laid it flat on a tatami mat, the video shows. The video also captured the group talking about the safety of their companions bathing
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
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
A classified Pentagon-produced, multiyear assessment — the Overmatch brief — highlighted unreported Chinese capabilities to destroy US military assets and identified US supply chain choke points, painting a disturbing picture of waning US military might, a New York Times editorial published on Monday said. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s comments in November last year that “we lose every time” in Pentagon-conducted war games pitting the US against China further highlighted the uncertainty about the US’ capability to intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. “It shows the Pentagon’s overreliance on expensive, vulnerable weapons as adversaries field cheap, technologically
RSS