Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) yesterday defended the bloody crackdown on student protesters occupying the Executive Yuan from Sunday evening through early Monday morning as a necessary measure, while rejecting the protesters’ call to withdraw the cross-strait service trade pact or suspend its review until legislation to monitor cross-strait agreements is set up.
While expressing regret over the injuries suffered by both protesters and police, Jiang defended the police action as “necessary.”
“As the protesters were trying to take over the Executive Yuan, we had to ask the police to take harsh measures to disperse them. Officers and protesters were injured and, according to data provided by the National Police Agency, a total of 174 officers and protesters were injured, with more officers than protesters being hurt,” Jiang told a press conference at the Executive Yuan yesterday morning.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
“I would like to express my deep regret about the protest that got out of control, and the ensuing forced eviction, which was necessary,” he said.
The premier said he was open to the idea of setting up legislation that would monitor cross-strait agreements, but he would not withdraw the service trade agreement from the legislature or suspend its legislative review.
Responding to Jiang’s comments, a representative of the student protests, Shih I-lun (施懿倫), said the premier’s remarks were “meaningless” and “insincere.”
Photo: CNA
“Jiang has been making similar meaningless comments for a week, since he came to the Legislative Yuan on Saturday [to talk to the protesters]. It doesn’t make any sense to me when he says that he supports legislation to monitor cross-strait agreements, but also says that the service trade pact should not be monitored by the law,” Shih said.
As for Jiang’s defense of the violent crackdown, Shih said that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Jiang should take full responsibility for the incident.
“The occupation was largely peaceful, with demonstrators staging a sit-in, chanting slogans. Violence only broke out when police, following Jiang’s order, starting the heavy crackdown on peaceful demonstrators,” Shih said.
Photo: Sung Hsiao-hai, Taipei Times
Jiang held the press conference after the student-led occupation movement earlier called on the public to attend an open-ended rally in front of the Presidential Office tomorrow afternoon.
According to Taipei City Zhongzheng First Precinct Police Chief Fang Yang-ning (方仰寧), the event organizers have applied for a permit for a rally of 100,000 people and the application has been approved. However, participants are required to disperse by midnight, he added.
Meanwhile, although a number of images, video clips and witness accounts have surfaced about police officers beating up protesters and reporters with batons and shields, Deputy Minister of the Interior Chen Chun-ching (陳純敬) and National Police Agency Deputy Director-General Tsai Chun-chang (蔡俊章) insisted yesterday that the police “gently” removed protesters occupying the Executive Yuan.
“It is true that 55 protesters were wounded, but the injuries were caused by the pulling and shoving that occurred when they resisted officers’ attempts to remove them,” Tsai said.
Asked about reports of police forcing reporters to leave and beating them, Chen said they asked members of the media to leave to protect them.
“If there is evidence that the police attacked reporters, we will launch an investigation,” he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RSS