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.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS