Demonstrators will no longer be required to apply for a permit or give government authorities prior notice to stage protests, under amendments to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) passed by the Legislative Yuan’s Internal Administration Committee last week.
Amendments to transform the act and rename it as the assembly and parade protection act have been under review by the committee since March, with the final draft based substantially on language proposed by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君), while preserving several key restrictions on demonstrators, including “forbidden zones” around government buildings and the police’s authority to disperse demonstrators.
Cheng’s version closely mirrored language proposed by civic groups such as the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, which in recent years have shifted from advocating the abolition of the act to seeking to transform it into a tool to protect protesters’ rights.
Following a 2014 Council of Grand Justices ruling that said the act’s permit requirements violated the constitutional guarantee of freedom of assembly, the draft bill passed by the committee would abolish permit provisions from the act and instead urge voluntary notification of public authorities.
Provisions added to the act obligate the police to protect and assist protesters regardless of whether they notify public authorities, including giving protest leaders the right to ask police to order away anyone impeding or interfering with the demonstration.
Previous provisions mandating special fines and prison terms for disobeying police orders to disperse were removed from the act, as were the provisions forbidding the advocacy of communism or “separatism.”
The draft bill also restricts police powers to restrict and disperse demonstrators, while not entirely removing related provisions as advocated by civil campaigners.
Provisions allowing police to order protesters to disperse for “illegal behavior” were replaced with a provision allowing for dispersal if protesters violate forbidden zones, put lives at risk, seriously damage property or cause traffic jams.
Restricted zones around government buildings are preserved, but are cut to between half and one-third of their former size.
Proposed amendments to zone restrictions and dispersal provisions by the committee have been temporarily “reserved” for further discussion in cross-caucus negotiations.
Protesters who purchase road rights are to have the right to exclude other demonstrators.
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Instead of focusing solely on the threat of a full-scale military invasion, the US and its allies must prepare for a potential Chinese “quarantine” of Taiwan enforced through customs inspections, Stanford University Hoover fellow Eyck Freymann said in a Foreign Affairs article published on Wednesday. China could use various “gray zone” tactics in “reconfiguring the regional and ultimately the global economic order without a war,” said Freymann, who is also a nonresident research fellow at the US Naval War College. China might seize control of Taiwan’s links to the outside world by requiring all flights and ships entering or leaving Taiwan
The next minimum wage hike is expected to exceed NT$30,000, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday during an award ceremony honoring “model workers,” including migrant workers, at the Presidential Office ahead of Workers’ Day today. Lai said he wished to thank the awardees on behalf of the nation and extend his most sincere respect for their hard work, on which Taiwan’s prosperity has been built. Lai specifically thanked 10 migrant workers selected for the award, saying that although they left their home countries to further their own goals, their efforts have benefited Taiwan as well. The nation’s industrial sector and small businesses lay
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
RSS