While those attending a public hearing yesterday on the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) agreed that reforms were necessary, government officials, legal activists, academics and lawmakers still held different views on whether clauses on restricted areas, the police’s power to disband demonstrations and the penalties on people who violate the law should be removed.
“It’s necessary to mark some areas as off limits for demonstrations to maintain the security of government offices,” National Chengchi University law professor Su Yung-chin (蘇永欽) told the public hearing held by the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee.
The law states that the immediate surrounding areas of the residences of the president and vice-president, the premier, the Executive Yuan, and courthouses — among other government buildings — are off limits for demonstrations.
“Some law revision activists argued that since there are other laws, such as the Criminal Code (刑法), that sanction violent actions, the penalties should be removed from the Assembly and Parade Law. I’m opposed to that,” Su said. “The Criminal Code does not penalize people for carrying rocks around, but when demonstrators carry rocks with them they should be sanctioned as rocks can be used as weapons.”
However, Soochow University law professor Nigel Lee (李念祖) disagreed.
“Of course people who use violence should be sanctioned by the law, however it’s wrong to presume that everyone who participates in a demonstration will engage in violent acts,” Lee said.
Lee also supported removing the restricted areas, since “holding a rally is a civil liberty as basic as walking on a sidewalk.”
On the other hand, Chou Yu-hsiu (周宇修), a member of the “Wild Strawberries” student movement that is demonstrating for amendment to the law, raised the issue of whether police should be able to disband demonstrations.
“Police officers on the scene have full authority to decide when to disband a demonstration and they often abuse that power,” Chou said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) echoed Chou’s view.
“Suppose there are a million people on the street, how will police disperse the demonstrators after issuing a disbandment order? And suppose there’s a small group of people — maybe five or 10 — demonstrating. What’s the point of disbanding that demonstration since they cannot possibly cause much disruption to social order anyway,” Cheng said.
Deputy Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) said that police should retain the power to disband rallies as a means to maintain order in case of emergency. Central Police University’s Foreign Affairs Department chair Tsai Ting-jung (蔡庭榕) said the clause should be retained, but the decision-making power should be in the hands of the elected mayor or an independent assembly and parades commission.
Opinions expressed in the public hearing will be forwarded to the Executive Yuan as a reference as it works on its own draft of a revision to the law.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS