The Wild Strawberry Student Movement has received support from overseas Taiwanese groups over its planned rally on Sunday, a representative of the movement said yesterday.
Chan Kun-feng (湛昆峰), who is in charge of the movement’s communication with the international community, told the Taipei Times that a number of overseas Taiwanese groups had decided to take to the streets on the same day.
Information provided by Chan said that the “Club des Taiwanais,” an organization primarily composed of Taiwanese students in France, would stage a protest at the Human Rights Plaza at Trocadero, Paris, at 3:30pm on Sunday.
During the protest, the Club des Taiwanais will deliver a speech to “strongly condemn Taiwan’s setback in democracy.”
“It has been one month since the Ma [Ying-jeou (馬英九)] administration ordered the police to deprive Taiwanese of their freedom to assemble, but there is no sign indicating [the government is willing] to apologize and take responsibility,” said a statement issued by the organization in France. “[The administration] seriously damaged Taiwan’s image as a free democracy and turned a deaf ear to the human rights issue highlighted by the people and the students of the Wild Strawberry [Student Movement].”
In Tokyo, democracy activists from the disbanded Taiwan Political Prisoner Rescue Association are organizing a rally in support of the students in Taipei, Chan said. Members of the Taiwanese American community in San Diego, California, are also planning to sponsor an event at the San Diego Taiwan Center on the day of the rally, Chan said.
In Taipei, some members of the Hoping for Hoping Peace Fest (和平音樂季) are planning to put on a concert of international support for the movement at the Liberty Square next Tuesday evening.
The student protesters are demanding that Ma and Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) apologize and that National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞) and National Security Bureau Director-General Tsai Chao-ming (蔡朝明) resign from their posts over what they called police brutality against protesters during a visit by a Chinese delegation last month.
The students also called for immediate amendments to the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) to scrap the requirement that demonstrators secure a permit from police.
Student protesters are planning to begin their march without police approval at 1pm to the Executive Yuan, the NPA and the Legislative Yuan, before heading to the Presidential Office along Ketagalan Boulevard.
In related news, the North America Taiwanese Professors’ Association (NATPA) is inviting two representatives from the Wild Strawberry Student Movement to meet with the American Institute in Taiwan and US State Department officials and attend UN’s Human Rights Day events next Wednesday.
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
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
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
RSS