Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday the party would hold its 24-hour sit-in protest against the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) and a draft amendment to the act without applying to the Taipei City Government for permission.
“We oppose this ridiculous Assembly and Parade Act and oppose the government’s proposed amendment to the Assembly and Parade Act,” Tsai told reporters yesterday.
The protest is scheduled to start on Sunday in front of the Presidential Office after the party’s rally against the government’s pro-China policies.
A draft amendment of the act proposed by the Cabinet would allow police to restrict the public’s right to protest, Tsai said.
She also said the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) had been playing tricks, first to block the sit-in, then to make it seem that Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) had helped the DPP.
The KMT arranged for “civic groups” to apply for rally permits on Ketagalan Boulevard on Monday to prevent the DPP’s 24-hour sit-in, she said. Later, Hau claimed he had negotiated with the groups on behalf of the DPP and convinced them to yield to the sit-in, she said.
Tsai said Hau’s behavior was “ridiculous and hypocritical,” and the DPP did not appreciate his supposed “help.”
The DPP has a permit for its Sunday-night rally on Ketagalan Boulevard, but could not secure a permit for the sit-in as the space had been booked for Monday.
Hau then called on the DPP to negotiate with the organization over use of the space. He was referring to the Taipei City branch of the KMT.
Yesterday he said the KMT had agreed to yield to the sit-in after being contacted by the city government over the matter.
Hau yesterday urged the DPP to complete the legal procedures for holding its sit-in and promised the permit would be granted.
“Ketagalan Boulevard is a major traffic artery and many residents have to use the road on Monday ... Applying for a road permit is [meant to] protect the rights of the majority,” Hau said.
Hau said the city government was concerned about the impact of the sit-in on traffic and would have trouble presenting a traffic control plan if the DPP did not apply for a road permit.
After news that the DPP would not apply for the permit, Hau said the sit-in would be illegal and the city government would handle the matter with a “soft approach.”
“I believe the DPP is a responsible party that will take the public’s rights and perspectives into consideration,” he said.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
IDENTITY: Compared with other platforms, TikTok’s algorithm pushes a ‘disproportionately high ratio’ of pro-China content, a study has found Young Taiwanese are increasingly consuming Chinese content on TikTok, which is changing their views on identity and making them less resistant toward China, researchers and politicians were cited as saying by foreign media. Asked to suggest the best survival strategy for a small country facing a powerful neighbor, students at National Chia-Yi Girls’ Senior High School said “Taiwan must do everything to avoid provoking China into attacking it,” the Financial Times wrote on Friday. Young Taiwanese between the ages of 20 and 24 in the past were the group who most strongly espoused a Taiwanese identity, but that is no longer
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake and several aftershocks battered southern Taiwan early this morning, causing houses and roads to collapse and leaving dozens injured and 50 people isolated in their village. A total of 26 people were reported injured and sent to hospitals due to the earthquake as of late this morning, according to the latest Ministry of Health and Welfare figures. In Sising Village (西興) of Chiayi County's Dapu Township (大埔), the location of the quake's epicenter, severe damage was seen and roads entering the village were blocked, isolating about 50 villagers. Another eight people who were originally trapped inside buildings in Tainan
RSS