Animal rights advocates yesterday staged a rally outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, while lawmakers convened a second round of public hearings inside for the Constitutional Amendment Committee, where participants voiced their support for improving animal protection and lowering the legal voting age to 18.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators continued to boycott the hearings, accusing the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of contravening legislative procedure earlier this month by choosing DPP Legislator Chou Chun-mi (周春米) as convener of the opening session before KMT legislators had arrived.
Representatives from the Taiwan Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Taiwan Animal Equality Association led the rally outside, with several protesters dressed as roosters, pigs, tigers, monkeys, dogs, horses, pandas or other animals, while supporters held up banners that read “Incorporate animal rights into the Constitution,” among other slogans.
Photo: CNA
It is time for Taiwan to respect the life and dignity of these sentient life forms, and to protect the welfare of animals, animal rights advocate Ho Tsung-hsun (何宗勳) said.
“When people make use of animals, we must do everything to avoid causing them pain and unnecessary suffering,” Ho said.
Under the Civil Code, animals are considered items or property belonging to the human owner, and not defined as “life forms,” he said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
“We need to have the basis for the protection of animals and put that in the Constitution,” he said.
Environment and Animal Society of Taiwan director Chu Tseng-hung (朱增宏) called on the government to initiate more reforms, otherwise efforts to ban the use of live animals in lab tests, stop cruel treatment of animals and promote more animal-friendly livestock farming in Taiwan would be impeded.
Representatives from the Taiwan Youth Association for Democracy and other student groups said they are concerned about KMT lawmakers boycotting the amendment process.
DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said that the party, along with the New Power Party and the Taiwan People’s Party, are participating in the legislative process, but with the noticeable absence of one party.
“KMT lawmakers have also introduced and supported lowering the voting age to 18, but now they do not want to touch it, and are using procedural moves to derail the process," she said. "It is very frustrating for us, as society wants to see the changes, but the KMT is working to ensure that nothing can be achieved."
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
RSS