Taiwan independence advocate Chen Yu-chang (陳俞璋) on Tuesday decried a High Court ruling that National Security Bureau (NSB) officers who confiscated his “Taiwan” flag and allegedly injured him would no longer have to pay compensation.
The High Court reversed an earlier ruling by the Taipei District Court, which ordered the NSB to pay Chen NT$100,000 for causing him mental distress when its officers forcibly confiscated a “Taiwan” flag and banner during the closing ceremony of the 2017 Taipei Summer Universiade.
“I am a proud Taiwanese and it was to assert my Taiwanese identity that I displayed the banner, but it was seized by force and I also sustained injuries in the process,” Chen, a member of pro-independence group From Ethnos to Nation, said in a statement. “The court ruling showed that the justice system is still pervaded by the colonial mentality of the Republic of China government.”
“After the first ruling was appealed, the court absolved the NSB, the Taipei City Government, Taipei police and the four military officers who attacked me of all responsibility for what happened, but Taiwanese will not give up and we will ensure that justice is served, by keeping up our fight to establish Taiwan as a nation,” it said.
Chen said that he had carried the banner — which said “TAIWAN” — to the closing ceremony, but four officers had grappled with him, confiscated the banner, arrested him and took him to a local police station for questioning.
The four officers — who did not identify themselves at the time, but who turned out to be military police officers under the NSB — had conducted an illegal arrest of a citizen, Chen said, questioning whether the Taipei City Government and the NSB had issued orders for officers to seize pro-Taiwan independence flags and banners.
Chen and From Ethnos to Nation filed a lawsuit, citing a breach of freedom of expression, physical assault causing injury, illegal seizure of personal property, kidnapping and forced confinement.
“Taiwan is the birthplace and homeland of Taiwanese, and the Summer Universiade was held in Taipei with more than 100 nations participating. Even China sent its athletes. Therefore at the closing ceremony, people holding up banners and flags bearing Taiwan, or a map of Taiwan, was above and beyond an expression of political ideology,” the original ruling said.
“Yet the security forces, in charge of protecting our nation’s leaders, came out against such actions. The court is unable to comprehend their reasoning,” it said, adding that it had therefore ruled that the NSB must pay compensation to Chen.
However, the High Court ruled that “the officers had acted appropriately, since Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) was at the event, and Chen [Yu-chang] and other spectators were waving their Taiwan flags and banners, which resulted in confrontations with other spectators.”
“The situation was affecting their ability to maintain security at the event, and may have led to potential danger and crowd trouble, and other unexpected incidents,” it said.
“Security personnel had assessed that there was a need to remove the banners and flags, to remove the danger and prevent trouble, so their actions conformed to the proportionality of carrying out their duty,” the High Court ruling said.
“Our Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, and the protection of a citizen’s life and property from coming under threat. However, the military police officers did not identify themselves and did not follow proper procedures when making an arrest, but went on to illegally arrest and detain Chen [Yu-chang],” his lawyer, Lin Chien-hung (林建宏), said at the trial.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
A Taiwanese academic yesterday said that Chinese Ambassador to Denmark Wang Xuefeng (王雪峰) disrespected Denmark and Japan when he earlier this year allegedly asked Japan’s embassy to make Taiwan’s representatives leave an event in Copenhagen. The Danish-language Berlingske on Sunday reported the incident in an article with the headline “The emperor’s birthday ended in drama in Copenhagen: More conflict may be on the way between Denmark and China.” It said that on Feb. 26, the Japanese embassy in Denmark held an event for Japanese Emperor Naruhito’s birthday, with about 200 guests in attendance, including representatives from Taiwan. After addressing the Japanese hosts, Wang
RSS