Accompanied by several dozen former Hualon Corp workers, Hualon Self-Help Organization president Lee Tsui-ming (李翠明) came to the Taipei District Court for an inquiry session yesterday, over charges of violating the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) during a demonstration in January.
The workers retired from the bankrupt textiles manufacturer about a decade ago and are claiming an average of NT$1 million (US$33,000) each in unpaid pensions, after a court auction of Hualon’s assets in August provided them with less than NT$3,000 each in compensation.
Lee was summoned for leading an unauthorized demonstration in front of the Presidential Office Building on Jan. 27.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
She said the court did not notify her about any illegal behavior until last week, right before another surprise demonstration at the same location, which she said prompted speculation on the government’s judicial influence.
“We launched that [first] demonstration right before the Lunar New Year, because we really did not have any money left to celebrate the holidays,” Lee said. “We were forced to take to the streets for our pensions.”
Clad in signature yellow cloaks with the word “anger” written across their chests, the workers carried a large banner reading: “[The government is] slow as a turtle in providing compensation, while abusive in judicial prosecution.”
Human rights lawyers Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) and Tseng Wei-kai (曾威凱), both volunteering their services for the Hualon case, condemned the court’s use of the Assembly and Parade Act, which they see as a violation of the workers’ rights.
“It always makes me sad to defend social activists, when the court should really be going after murderers or arsonists,” Chiu said.
Chiu also stated his support for the workers’ compensation: “If all the money from the Hualon auctions goes to the banks instead of the workers, I think Taiwanese society will never forgive our judicial system.”
With a pre-approval system that requires organizers to obtain permits from local authorities before rallies or protests, the Assembly and Parade Act has often been described as “a relic from the Martial Law era” by human rights advocates, with many campaigning for its abolition.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview. “Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that,” Hsiao told American podcaster Shawn Ryan of the Shawn Ryan Show. She was referring to a timeline cited by several US military and intelligence officials, who said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take military action against Taiwan