Taipei prosecutors today summoned former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) and former KMT spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) for questioning for allegedly holding an illegal assembly in April.
KMT Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) is also expected to be summoned for questioning soon, prosecutors said.
Hsieh requested leave and would not appear in court today, people familiar with the matter said.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
It was the first time that the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office had summoned Chu and Yang for questioning in the case, and they were released afterward.
“We are here today to uphold the Republic of China Constitution's guarantees on the people's rights to assembly and parade,” Chu said. “We are all adhering to the Constitution's protections for people's rights, and we will insist on the Republic of China Constitution's provisions safeguarding assembly and parade rights.”
“Every time we stand in front of the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office, we are here to speak out for the nation’s democracy, freedom, fairness and justice,” Yang wrote on social media after being released.
She said that she would continue to be brave, and defend and strive for a future the younger generation wants.
Chu, Yang and Hsieh are suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding a protest on Apr. 17 outside the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed.
Chu called on party members to protest after Huang Lu Chin-ju (黃呂錦茹), director of the KMT's Taipei chapter, and several other KMT staffers were questioned over the alleged forgery of signatures in recall campaigns targeting Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators.
Police said that they did not comply with repeated orders to disperse, in accordance with the Assembly and Parade Act, and the case was referred to Taipei prosecutors for investigation.
Immediately after attending a rally on Ketagalan Boulevard on Apr. 26, Chu, Hsieh and Yang went to the Taipei City Police Department's Zhongzheng First Precinct for questioning, despite being told to report to police on Apr. 28.
After leaving the precinct, Chu said that the Constitution guarantees freedom of assembly and association, and President William Lai (賴清德) was trying to silence the people.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang
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