A group of seven activists yesterday said they would take legal action against police and Novotel Hotel staff they say were involved in a raid of the activists’ hotel room on June 26 at the hotel chain’s Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport venue.
The group asserts that police broke into their room illegally and restricted their movement for more than 10 hours in a bid to prevent them from protesting a meeting between China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) and his Taiwanese counterpart, Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦).
Netizens have dubbed the action “room service,” referring to video footage provided by the activists in which an unidentified voice purportedly belonging to a police officer is heard shouting the phrase before police entered the room.
Human rights lawyer Kao Yung-cheng (高涌誠) heads the team of volunteer lawyers that have taken up the case.
Kao said the group is demanding compensation from the state and that it would press charges against the police for what it says are offenses against personal liberties and abuse of power.
Kao said the activists would also take legal action against Novotel staff for failing to protect their clients’ privacy, thereby breaching their contract. Three hotel employees were present at the incident, allegedly including hotel general manager Eric Rimbeuf.
Lai Chung-Chiang (賴中強), one of the activists involved and a lawyer himself, demanded an official apology from Novotel.
“We would hate to see our government and private enterprises sacrifice Taiwan’s human rights and values to pander to China,” he said.
Greg Yo (尤伯祥), one of the volunteer lawyers, said incidences of police brutality have risen since the 2008 visit of China’s former Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林).
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Chinese spouse and influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China videos that threaten national security, the National Immigration Agency confirmed today. Guan Guan has said many controversial statements in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” and expressing hope for expedited reunification. The agency last year received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification. After verifying the reports, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and explain her actions. Guan
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) said a magnitude 4.9 earthquake that struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan yesterday was an independent event and part of a stress-adjustment process. The earthquake occurred at 4:47pm, with its epicenter at sea about 45.4km south of Yilan County Hall at a depth of 5.9km, the CWA said. The quake's intensity, which gauges the actual effects of a temblor, was highest in several townships in Yilan and neighboring Hualien County, where it measured 4 on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the CWA said. Lin Po-yu (林柏佑), a division chief at the CWA's Seismological Center, told a news conference
RSS