A civic group said it would organize another rally in Taipei next week to protest what it said was the government’s attempts to keep the public in the dark about the truth behind the death of an army corporal this month.
Citizen 1985, which organized the July 20 rally in front of the Ministry of National Defense that drew 30,000 people, said it was organizing another protest because the public still does not know what really happened in the final hours and days before Hung Chung-chiu’s (洪仲丘) death on July 4.
Hung collapsed on July 3 after being sent to a detention brig for seven days and ordered to do drills because he brought a smartphone with a camera onto his base after returning from leave. An autopsy showed that the 24-year-old Hung died of a heatstroke.
The ministry has said the punishment was too harsh considering the offense and that Hung should not have been subjected to the drills.
A spokesman for Citizen 1985 said the group had obtained permission to use Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office beginning at 4pm next Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Taipei City Police Department’s Zhongcheng First branch dismissed allegations that it is questioning people who live near Taipei Main Station as a security measure ahead of next week’s protest. It said police officers were carrying out regular duties and clamping down on illegal hotels in the area.
Local media reports cited unnamed netizens who said they had received calls from police officers seeking information about tenants in apartments they have rented. Police who later inspected their apartments said “the inspection was required by supervisors.”
First branch head Fang Yang-ning (方仰寧) said his officers were conducting public safety inspections on buildings in the area and looking for unregistered hotels in accordance with Taipei City Government’s efforts to close illegal “daily rental suites.” There are many such suites around the railway station, which are popular with backpackers.
Fang said the city’s Department of Information and Tourism had provided police with a list of apartments or hotels that had violated business regulations or were operating illegally and officers had been dispatched to check the sites to ensure public safety.
“Our purpose is to protect public safety and the safety of the people in the area. It has nothing to do with the rally or issues related to the freedom of speech,” he said.
Fang said the branch would enhance officer training and the police would provide better explanations of their duties when carrying out inspections.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS