Several activists who have taken part in recent protests — including the occupation of the Legislative Yuan and the Executive Yuan, and a demonstration outside the Zhongzheng First Police Precinct — yesterday turned themselves in to police, saying that while they did not break the law, they were willing to accept any legal responsibility that protesters may face.
“From the 24-day occupation of the legislature to the overnight occupation of the Executive Yuan and the demonstration outside the Zhongzheng First Police Precinct office, the government, the police and the judiciary have targeted a number of students, accusing them of being ‘leaders of criminal activity’ and holding them responsible for the series of public protests,” said Chu Cheng-chi (朱政騏), one of the activists and a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Council candidate. “But we are here to the tell the government that there are no leaders in these protests, because we have voluntarily taken part in these actions together. We have not been led by anyone.”
Chu said he did not think that anyone who took part in the protests had done anything “illegal,” as it is a fundamental right for people to rise up against the government.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
“However, if the government wants to pick out a few people, call them the ‘leaders’ [of the protests] and press charges against them, we are here to share the responsibility with them, so please charge us as well,” Chu said.
Chu added that the action is to show solidarity with protesters who are being investigated by the police or the judiciary.
Environmentalists Pan Han-chiang (潘翰疆) and Lee Cho-han (李卓翰), animal rights activist Huang Tai-shan (黃泰山) and DPP Taipei City Council candidate Chen Shu-hua (陳淑華) also showed up outside the police station to turn themselves in.
“What our friends on the police’s list did was also something we’ve wanted to do. If they have to face legal responsibility [for what they did], so do we,” Lee said. “If what we did was a crime, then the government should expect many more such crimes in the future.”
Pan also said that it was not fair if only “students” were charged.
“I was one of those who broke into the legislative chamber on March 18. I was one of those who raided the Executive Yuan from the night of March 23 until early morning on March 24. I was also one of those who demonstrated outside Zhongzheng First Police Precinct on April 11. In fact, I insisted on staying when most of the protesters had left that night,” Pan said.
“There is no reason I should be left out of the list of suspects,” he said.
The five were asked to go into the police station for questioning.
The Philippines is working behind the scenes to enhance its defensive cooperation with Taiwan, the Washington Post said in a report published on Monday. “It would be hiding from the obvious to say that Taiwan’s security will not affect us,” Philippine Secretary of National Defense Gilbert Teodoro Jr told the paper in an interview on Thursday last week. Although there has been no formal change to the Philippines’ diplomatic stance on recognizing Taiwan, Manila is increasingly concerned about Chinese encroachment in the South China Sea, the report said. The number of Chinese vessels in the seas around the Philippines, as well as Chinese
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
URBAN COMBAT: FIM-92 Stinger shoulder-fired missiles from the US made a rare public appearance during early-morning drills simulating an invasion of the Taipei MRT The ongoing Han Kuang military exercises entered their sixth day yesterday, simulating repelling enemy landings in Penghu County, setting up fortifications in Tainan, laying mines in waters in Kaohsiung and conducting urban combat drills in Taipei. At 5am in Penghu — part of the exercise’s first combat zone — participating units responded to a simulated rapid enemy landing on beaches, combining infantry as well as armored personnel. First Combat Zone Commander Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源) led the combined armed troops utilizing a variety of weapons systems. Wang Keng-sheng (王鏗勝), the commander in charge of the Penghu Defense Command’s mechanized battalion, said he would give
‘REALISTIC’ APPROACH: The ministry said all the exercises were scenario-based and unscripted to better prepare personnel for real threats and unexpected developments The army’s 21st Artillery Command conducted a short-range air defense drill in Taoyuan yesterday as part of the Han Kuang exercises, using the indigenous Sky Sword II (陸射劍二) missile system for the first time in the exercises. The armed forces have been conducting a series of live-fire and defense drills across multiple regions, simulating responses to a full-scale assault by Chinese forces, the Ministry of National Defense said. The Sky Sword II missile system was rapidly deployed and combat-ready within 15 minutes to defend Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in a simulated attack, the ministry said. A three-person crew completed setup and
RSS