A group of people sued by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Hsueh-chang (呂學樟) yesterday called the lawsuit an “intimidation attempt” that is harmful to “citizens’ freedom of speech, which is guaranteed by the Constitution.”
Lu filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against a professor and four students that he believes lead a “passing-by” event outside his Hsinchu office on April 23, which left a paper replica of a tortoise shell with his name on it that he took to mean he was being labeled a “head-retracting turtle.”
The protesters had complained that he was toeing the KMT’s party line instead of following the will of the people.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
The lawmaker accused the five — Taiwan Association of University Professors president Lu Chung-chin (呂忠津), National Tsing Hua University’s Radical Paper members Dennis Wei (魏揚) and Wang Yu-deng (王昱登), and National Hsinchu University of Education’s Youth Awakening Front members Wang Yu-chun (王昱鈞) and Hsu Jung-kai (許榮凱) — of libel and deliberate humiliation.
The five held a press conference in Taipei yesterday, accompanied by lawyer Wellington Koo (顧立雄) and author Neil Peng (馮光遠), to criticize Lu Hsueh-chang’s action and clarify their appeals.
“We as citizens are asking for Lu’s opinions on recent controversies that have drawn society’s attention, such as the future of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and an oversight bill on cross-strait agreements,” Lu Chung-chin said. “We are demanding Lu [Hsueh-chang], a representative of the people, to respect the public will.”
Photo: Wang Chun-chien, Taipei Times
Wang Yu-deng said the lawmaker was not at the office at the time of the protest.
“It was his office director who came out and immediately went back in after saying a few words,” Wang said.
Wei, who is also a member of the Black Island National Youth Front that played a crucial role in the Sunflower Movement, said the lawsuit highlighted the protesters’ complaints.
“If the lawmaker decided to sue us for likening him to a head-retracting turtle, he is not only substantiating the claim, but also acting like a member of the strawberry generation,” Wei said.
“Strawberry generation” is a term used to refer to young people whom the older generation feel are not able to handle adverse circumstances and are easily bruised, like strawberries.
“A legislator who cannot handle criticism from the public and turns to lawsuits when he is upset does not have broad enough shoulders for politics,” Wei said. “Calling him a head-retracting turtle is not a false accusation since he has been hiding under the party’s umbrella during all the disputes.”
Koo said “banter” is within the bounds of free speech voiced toward public figures or public affairs.
“If a paper tortoise shell can become the target of a libel case, I would suggest all those KMT legislators who have been singled out by the recall project launched by the protesters bring all of them [the protesters] to court in one fell swoop to straighten the matter out once and for all,” he said.
“Otherwise it will be too much hard work for us lawyers,” Koo said jokingly.
When asked by reporters about Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) alleged comment that “passing-by protests” are no longer needed, Peng said the burden of justification is on the person who first came up with the idea.
“We all know who that is,” he said.
Peng also had a question for Guo.
“Guo ardently supported Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), a world-certified bumbler, in the 2012 presidential election. Should not he be held accountable for his choice?” he said.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
ANOTHER OPTION: The 13-year-old, whose residency status was revoked for holding a Chinese passport, could still apply for residency on humanitarian grounds, the government said The Executive Yuan has rejected an appeal from a 13-year-old Chinese student surnamed Lu (陸), whose permanent residency was revoked after immigration officers discovered he held a Chinese passport. Lu in December 2023 applied to settle in Taiwan to be with his mother, surnamed Lin (林), who is a Taiwan resident, an appeal decision released this month by the Executive Yuan showed. Lin settled in Taiwan after marrying a Taiwanese man in 2003, but the two divorced in 2011, and after marrying a Chinese man, she had Lu, the Executive Yuan’s appeals committee said. Lu’s application was approved in December 2024, and in
RSS