Student activists’ blocking of Premier Lin Chuan’s (林全) car should be respected as an act of political expression, protesters said yesterday outside the Executive Yuan, criticizing the government’s threats to press charges.
“The government should consider the reason people took to the streets,” Judicial Reform Foundation researcher Ho Yu-lun (何友倫) said.
Ho cited the verdict acquitting Sunflower movement member Dennis Wei (魏揚) and others of charges of coercion and obstruction of public traffic and communication for blocking China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun’s (張志軍) car in 2014 on a road in New Taipei City’s Wulai (烏來).
A guilty verdict against Wei was overturned in a second trial in February on the grounds that public interest had motivated their actions and only minimal effect on traffic had resulted.
Student protesters and residents of Daguan (大觀) community in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋) briefly blocked Lin’s car as it emerged from his home on Thursday morning in an effort to force a response to demands that the Veterans Affairs Council halt planned demolition of the community.
“Going to Lin’s home was a last resort to make him face the issue,” student Cheng Chung-hao (鄭仲皓) said.
While acknowledging that the community is on government-owned land, protesters said that the planned demolition is unjust and the homes were constructed legally with the help of the National Women’s League in conjunction with the construction of a nearby military dependents’ village.
Protesters also criticized Executive Yuan statements that the case had already passed review by the Presidential Office’s Human Rights Consultative Committee.
Daguan Self-Help Association member Huang Ping-hsun (黃炳勛) panned the account as “one-sided.”
Taiwan Association of Human Rights member Wang Hsi (王曦) showed minutes from the committee’s meeting on the case on April 20, which said that priority should be placed on finding a settlement that avoids displacing residents.
The resolution also called for demolition to be put on hold because the government has no urgent need for the underlying land.
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
The Taipei City Government yesterday confirmed that it has negotiated a royalties of NT$12.2 billion (US$380 million) with artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia Corp, with the earliest possible signing date set for Wednesday next week. The city has been preparing for Nvidia to build its Taiwan headquarters in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park since last year, and the project has now entered its final stage before the contract is signed. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city government has completed the royalty price negotiations and would now push through the remaining procedures to sign the contract before
RSS