The high-profile trial of eight young activists charged over an alleged incident involving China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) began yesterday.
On June 26 last year, members of the Black Island National Youth Front allegedly blocked a road by chaining themselves together before Zhang’s tour of New Taipei City’s Wulai District (烏來) — an Atayal Aboriginal village.
Despite being swiftly removed and arrested by police officers, the activists managed to delay Zhang’s visit to the village by 20 minutes.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Eight group members — including students Dennis Wei (魏揚) and Lai Ping-yu (賴品妤) — were indicted last month on criminal charges of coercion (強制罪) and obstruction of public traffic and communication (妨礙公共交通往來).
Group members played a key role in last year’s Sunflower movement, in which student-led protesters in Taipei occupied the legislature’s main chamber for nearly 23 days in March and April over the government’s handling of the cross-strait service trade pact.
The activists yesterday said that while their blockade denied pedestrian and vehicular access to Wulai, their goal was to stop President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration from “incessantly leaning toward China politically and economically.”
They asked if the administration was trying to “prevent ambassadors from the ‘celestial kingdom’ from hearing Taiwanese voices,” using an archaic term for China.
“Since the [Chinese] special ambassador was in Taiwan to discuss important issues involving economic trade — which would create a large impact on people’s livelihoods — why would the government not allow people to express their opinions?” Wei asked.
Lai said that citizens should have the right to express their opinions through protests and demonstrations, and accused the government of abusing its power through judicial channels.
Human rights lawyer Greg Yo (尤伯翔), one of the volunteer lawyers on the case, said that it was “deeply regretful” that the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office decided to indict the activists, adding that he believed that the court would protect their freedom of speech.
If found guilty, the activists could be sentenced to up to three years in prison for coercion, and up to five years in prison for obstruction of public traffic and communication.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
RSS