Dozens of protesters against the forcible demolition of houses in Miaoli County’s Dapu Borough (大埔) were able to get close enough to the Executive Yuan in Taipei yesterday to throw eggs and paint at the building after they disguised themselves as Chinese tourists.
Carrying bags from souvenir and specialty shops and following a “tour guide” waving a small hand-held flag, the group of more than 30 protesters did not arouse much attention as they walked from the Sheraton Hotel Taipei across the street to the Executive Yuan.
However, as the group neared the front gate of the Executive Yuan, they suddenly began sprinting toward the building’s front door.
Photo provided by Taiwan Rural Front
Shouting: “The government tore down Dapu, and the people will tear down the government,” the protesters tossed eggs and paint at the building.
Taken by surprise, the police officers at the front gate managed to grab only two of the protesters as they entered the compound.
Those that made it inside the gate, after throwing the eggs and paint, sat down and continued chanting, calling on the government to return the land it has expropriated from people and to amend the law to ban forced expropriation.
Not long after the sit-in began, police officers moved into to remove the protesters, but not before asking reporters and photographers on the scene to leave.
When Public Television Service reporter Edd Jhong (鐘聖雄) insisted that it was his right as a reporter to be at a news scene, he was grabbed by police officers.
“They originally were going to throw me out of the Executive Yuan, but I kept struggling, so they gave up,” Jhong said. “A public relations official from the Executive Yuan came out and said she could stay with us [the media]. She asked the police to leave us alone, but a plainclothes officer challenged her, asking if she would take full responsibility for the decision.”
“This was clearly an effort to repress the freedom of the press,” Jhong said.
When asked about the protest later in the day, Executive Yuan spokesperson Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) appealed for calm.
It is normal in a democracy for people to voice their opinions and fight for their rights, but they should do so in a rational and legal manner, she said.
Cheng said the Executive Yuan has told police officers in the district to increase their patrols.
However, it told them that police officers should uphold the rule of law when carrying out their duties and urged government agencies and officials at all levels to increase their communications with the public in cases where the public’s interests are affected, Cheng said.
The protest did not disturb the Cabinet meeting that was taking place inside the building at the time, nor was it discussed at the meeting, Cheng said.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
PEACE AT LAST? UN experts had warned of threats and attacks ahead of the voting, but after a turbulent period, Bangladesh has seemingly reacted to the result with calm The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) yesterday celebrated a landslide victory in the first elections held since a deadly 2024 uprising, with party leader Tarique Rahman to become prime minister. Bangladesh Election Commission figures showed that the BNP alliance had won 212 seats, compared with 77 for the Islamist-led Jamaat-e-Islami alliance. The US embassy congratulated Rahman and the BNP for a “historic victory,” while India praised Rahman’s “decisive win” in a significant step after recent rocky relations with Bangladesh. China and Pakistan, which grew closer to Bangladesh since the uprising and the souring of ties with India, where ousted Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina
FAST-TRACK: The deal is to be sent to the legislature, but time is of the essence, as Trump had raised tariffs on Seoul when it failed to quickly ratify a similar pact Taiwan and the US on Thursday signed a trade agreement that caps US tariffs on Taiwanese goods at 15 percent and provides preferential market access for US industrial and agricultural exports, including cars, and beef and pork products. The Taiwan-US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade confirms a 15 percent US tariff for Taiwanese goods, and grants Taiwanese semiconductors and related products the most-favorable-treatment under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, the Executive Yuan said. In addition, 2,072 items — representing nearly 20 percent of Taiwan’s total exports to the US — would be exempt from additional tariffs and be subject only to
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday approved a special pardon exempting a woman in her 80s convicted of killing her disabled son from imprisonment. After carefully reviewing the case, Lai pardoned Lin Liu Lung-tzu (林劉龍子) from the prison sentence while acknowledging her conviction, citing the extreme circumstances she faced, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. Under Article 3 of the Amnesty Act (赦免法), the two kinds of pardons are exempting an offender from the execution of a punishment or declaring the punishment to be invalid. Kuo said Lin Liu had spent more than 50 years caring for her son, before
HOLIDAY RUSH: Airport passenger volume is expected to reach a new high, while southbound road traffic would likely peak from Tuesday As Lunar New Year travelers flock overseas, passenger traffic at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is expected to shatter records, as Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC, 桃園國際機場), Taiwan’s largest aviation hub operator, projected yesterday’s passenger volume to climb to 167,000. The figure comes after a record single-day high of 161,000 passengers on Thursday, and would surpass the previous pre-COVID-19 pandemic Lunar New Year peak of 166,000 passengers in 2019, TIAC said. Long lines could be seen forming as early as 7am yesterday, filling Terminal 1 of the airport almost to capacity, yet security checks took only 10 to 15 minutes. TIAC urged
RSS