Members of the Taiwan Indepen-dence Party torched a Chinese flag yesterday -- the second in a week -- to protest what they say is the government's unjust restrictions on the freedom of assembly.
The protest took place yesterday in front of the Taipei District Court after party members paid a fine incurred by colleague Chou Chao-yang (周朝陽). Chou had been arrested on May 21 for a Nov. 28, 1998 incident, in which he allegedly broke public safety and assembly codes. During that incident, Chou burned a paper Chinese flag in front of the Hilton Hotel, where a Chinese official, Su Ge (蘇格), was staying.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
In the 1998 protest, Chou and others sought to disrupt a meeting between Su and Taiwanese officials.
Insisting on his innocence, Chou chose to serve one month in jail rather than pay a fine of NT$27,000, and had been carrying out a hunger strike since his detainment.
"By burning another Chinese flag, we meant to reveal the absurdity of my being incarcerated," Chou said yesterday.
The Party chairman Ho Wen-chi (
In addition, Ho called Chou's detention a "political persecution" and an uneven enforcement of the law. He said the judicial department meted out different penalties, depending on the individual's personal political beliefs.
"For years, nobody has been charged for burning an American flag. Why was [a pro-independence advocate] penalized for burning a Chinese flag?" Ho said.
In Taiwan, protests in front of the American Institute in Taiwan often take place during times of anti-American sentiment. Burning US flags is frequently a part of the demonstrations.
Ho also noted that following last year's presidential elections, thousands of protesters besieged the KMT's headquarters for days without official approval, but not a single person was arrested.
Echoing Ho's opinion, human right activists decried the legal grounds for Chou's arrest as being insufficient, saying Chou's charge was "argumentative."
"The judges handed down their verdict on the grounds that that Chou put the security of the public in peril by burning a Chinese flag. But Chou has not been the only person to set things ablaze publicly in this country. Why not punish them all?" said Lin Feng-jeng (林峰正), a lawyer and chairperson of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (台灣人權促進會).
"Burning the flag was merely one measure used to protest. Obviously they did not mean to jeopardize public safety. I don't consider the punishment justified."
Although Lin does not agree that rules governing assemblies should be abolished because they serve as necessary guidelines for public gatherings, he agreed that the regulations need modification.
According to the law, no assembly can be held without official approval. When the application gets overruled in the first review, applicants have another chance to fulfill the official requirements before the case is brought to court to petition for a third examination.
"The most criticized aspect of the law is that the petition process may take too long to issue timely permission for a gathering," he said.
MILESTONE: The foreign minister called the signing ‘a major step forward in US-Taiwan relations,’ while the Presidential Office said it was a symbol of the nations’ shared values US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the state department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct a review “not less than every five years.” It must then submit an updated report based on its findings “not later
The Presidential Office today thanked the US for enacting the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law, signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday, is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct such a review "not less than every five years." It must then submit an updated
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
Taiwanese prosecutors charged Tokyo Electron Ltd for failing to prevent staff from allegedly stealing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) trade secrets, escalating a dispute involving two Asian linchpins of a chip industry increasingly vital to national and economic security. Prosecutors indicted the Japanese company on four counts of contravening the Trade Secrets Act (營業秘密法) and the National Security Act (國家安全法), they said in a statement yesterday. They’re asking a local court to rule in favor of their request for Tokyo Electron pay a fine of up to NT$120 million (US$3.8 million) for failing in its duty to prevent the alleged
RSS