A group of seven activists yesterday said they would take legal action against police and Novotel Hotel staff they say were involved in a raid of the activists’ hotel room on June 26 at the hotel chain’s Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport venue.
The group asserts that police broke into their room illegally and restricted their movement for more than 10 hours in a bid to prevent them from protesting a meeting between China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) and his Taiwanese counterpart, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦).
Netizens have dubbed the action “room service,” referring to video footage provided by the activists in which an unidentified voice purportedly belonging to a police officer is heard shouting the phrase before police entered the room.
Human rights lawyer Kao Yung-cheng (高涌誠) heads the team of volunteer lawyers that have taken up the case.
Kao said the group is demanding compensation from the state and that it would press charges against the police for what it says are offenses against personal liberties and abuse of power.
Kao said the activists would also take legal action against Novotel staff for failing to protect their clients’ privacy, thereby breaching their contract. Three hotel employees were present at the incident, allegedly including hotel general manager Eric Rimbeuf.
Lai Chung-Chiang (賴中強), one of the activists involved and a lawyer himself, demanded an official apology from Novotel.
“We would hate to see our government and private enterprises sacrifice Taiwan’s human rights and values to pander to China,” he said.
Greg Yo (尤伯祥), one of the volunteer lawyers, said incidences of police brutality have risen since the 2008 visit of China’s former Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
RSS