Hundreds of white-clad protesters against the student-led occupation of the Legislative Yuan yesterday held up banners urging people planning to participate in a mass pro-occupation demonstration on Ketagalan Boulevard that day to “go home and return the legislature to the people.”
Waving Republic of China (ROC) flags and wearing white T-shirts printed with the slogan: “Come forward for stability, Taiwan goes global” (安定站出來, 台灣走出去), the anti-occupation protesters gathered outside the Exit East 3 of Taipei Main Station at 2pm yesterday in an attempt to “talk some sense” into people who traveled to Taipei by trains for the mass protest against the cross-strait service agreement yesterday afternoon.
“We want to see the controversy dealt with via the representative system instead of street protests. If the students think the system is flawed, they should resort to deliberative democratic mechanisms or popular referendums, not take to the streets as people did decades ago,” said Sun Chien-ping (孫健萍), convener of the White Civil Justice League, which initiated the anti-occupation protest.
Photo: CNA
The so-called “white-clad army” then marched toward Zhongshan N Road, which is 30 minutes’ walking distance from Ketagalan Boulevard.
It originally planned to rally on the road until 7pm, the planned conclusion time of the Ketagalan protest, but was advised to return to the station by police after causing severe traffic jams.
Supporters of the pact have put up boards reading: “Punish violence” and “Return the legislature to the people” on the pedestrian walkway at the intersection of Zhongxiao W Road and Zhongshan S Road.
However, the signs were quickly changed by opponents of the agreement into “Punish ‘governmental’ violence” and “Return the ‘democratic’ legislature to the people.”
Throughout the process, only verbal disputes broke out between the white-clad army and the black-clad activists protesting against the pact.
The pact has stirred up public concerns since its signing on June 21 last year and prompted hundreds of students to occupy the legislature on March 18 after the way the pact with China was fast-tracked through a legislative committee by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers.
Public divisions over the agreement are deepening as President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) remains adamant in his determination to bring the deal into effect.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
RSS