A National Tsing Hua University student on Monday began a hunger strike to protest what he said was a flawed decisionmaking process regarding the university’s merger with National Hsinchu University of Education, which officially began yesterday.
Hsu Guangcheng (徐光成), former president of the Tsing Hua Students’ Association, has been fasting since 6pm on Monday, drinking only water to prevent himself from falling seriously ill.
Hsu said that Tsing Hua officials ignored students’ and faculty’s objections to the merger and dodged questions regarding the school’s staffing and funding after the merger.
Hsu demanded that Tsing Hua president Hocheng Hong (賀陳弘) renounce and apologize for arbitrarily changing a proposal on the merger and for saying that he has the final decision on whether the proposal should be submitted to the university’s management for review.
“The proposal was passed after bypassing due procedures,” Hsu said, calling on the Ministry of Education to intervene and order Tsing Hua to rescind the merger and urging officials, faculty and students attending a meeting next week to veto a proposal to amend the university’s articles of association.
Hsu and the university have different interpretations of the university’s handling of the merger, Tsing Hua Office of Students’ Affairs director Hsieh Hsiao-ling (謝小苓) said.
Hsieh urged Hsu not to harm himself to express his opinions, saying that the school was open to dialogue.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
A British man was arrested for attempting to smuggle 14.37kg of marijuana into Taiwan through Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taipei Customs said late yesterday. The man, who arrived from Bangkok at 9pm on Friday, was asked by customs officers to open his luggage during a random inspection, Taipei Customs said in a news release. The passenger, whose identity was not disclosed, refused to open his suitcase and tried to flee the restricted area. He was eventually subdued by three customs officials and an Aviation Police Bureau officer. A later search of his checked luggage uncovered 14.37kg of marijuana buds. The case was handed over