At the request of civic groups and academics, the Control Yuan will launch an investigation into whether National Police Agency (NPA) and National Security Bureau (NSB) heads broke the law during the visit of Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) and his delegation earlier this month.
Twenty-five civic groups and 218 academics filed a petition with the Control Yuan yesterday, calling for an investigation into the actions of NPA Director-General Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞), NSB Director Tsai Chao-ming (蔡朝明) and National Security Council Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起).
The petitioners accused the NPA and NSB of violating civil liberties when executing “Operation Concord” to protect Chen and his delegation during their Nov. 3 to Nov. 7 visit.
PHOTO: LU CHUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Chen arrived in Taiwan to sign four agreements with Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) aimed at enhancing cross-strait ties.
“In executing ‘Operation Concord,’ [the NSB and the NPA] violated people’s freedom of movement and the right to be at public places, taking excessive measures such as closing off the airport, public roads, sidewalks and hotels, all in the name of ‘protecting Chen’s personal safety,’” the petition said.
“In our constitutional history, the government has never closed off public spaces on such a large scale or so seriously restricted freedom of movement. The aforementioned agencies have obviously violated several laws,” it said.
The petition also cited various incidents of abuse that allegedly occurred during Chen’s stay.
In several cases, individuals wearing T-shirts calling Taiwan a sovereign country, holding the Republic of China or Tibetan flags, or shouting pro-independence slogans were forcibly removed by police and prohibited from walking past buildings in which Chen was at the time.
In other cases, a woman was taken to a police station for videotaping Chen’s convoy leaving a hotel, while several anti-China demonstrators who protested peacefully were beaten by police and severely injured.
“There should already be some mechanism in our government system — for example, prosecutors — to assess such abuses of power, but nothing has been done so far,” Yen Chueh-an (顏厥安), a National Taiwan University law professor, told a press conference outside the Control Yuan before submitting the petition.
“Sadly, nothing has happened and we suspect that something went wrong in our government system. That’s why we are taking this [petition] to the Control Yuan,” Yen said.
“We brought proof of the NPA and the NSB’s wrongdoing, including videos recorded by the media and individuals on the scene, pictures, injury reports and police reports,” said Chiu Hei-yuan (瞿海源), a sociology research fellow at Academia Sinica.
Control Yuan member Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄) accepted the petition and said he would investigate.
“I will ask the concerned parties to explain what happened and summon them to appear in person if necessary,” Huang said. “If everything goes well, the investigation should be completed in three months.”
According to the Constitution, Wang, Tsai and Su could face impeachment if the Control Yuan finds them guilty.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS