A group of academics launched a signature campaign yesterday urging the Legislative Yuan to amend new legislation that they say infringes on their right to participate in political activities.
“Although it is necessary to regulate the political activities of public officials in a democracy, we believe the legislation is inappropriate as it deprives the right of numerous public servants and teachers to voice their opinions on politics,” Wu Nai-teh (吳乃德), a research fellow at the Institute of Sociology at the Academia Sinica, told a press conference.
Wu was referring to the Act Governing the Administrative Impartiality of Public Officials (公務人員行政中立法).
The Act prohibits academics from wearing or displaying flags or emblems of any political parties or groups at teachers’ or researchers’ offices. It also prohibits academics from convening demonstrations, launching signature bids and the editing, printing or distribution of political flyers or related documents using public equipment at public offices. The Examination Yuan and the Executive Yuan are also authorized to impose more bans through administrative orders.
Meanwhile, the legislature also passed a resolution requiring that the Ministry of Education submit a bill regulating the impartiality of all teachers to the legislature by September.
The academics yesterday panned the legislature for subjecting public school teachers who double as school administrators and researchers at public research institutes to the ban stipulated in the Act.
Wu Rwei-ren (吳叡人), an assistant research fellow at the Institute of Taiwan History at Academia Sinica, described the Act as “ridiculous” and suggested the government immediately “discipline” him as he could have violated the act by co-initiating the signature campaign.
“I bought a T-shirt from a friend recently that bears the slogan: ‘Taiwan belongs to the Taiwanese people (台灣是台灣人的台灣).’ I could be charged with violation of the Act if I wear the shirt at my research office because the slogan is clearly pro-independence,” he said. “I could also be seen as breaking the law by displaying the Tibetan flag at my office to mark the Tibetan Uprising Day on March 10 every year.”
Yen Chueh-an (顏厥安), a law professor at National Taiwan University, said the inclusion of researchers at public research facilities in the Act could be unconstitutional as Article 11 of the Constitution protects their freedom of speech and research.
In response, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus whip Lin Yi-shih (林益世) questioned why the academics failed to voice their opposition to the Act when legislators were negotiating its content.
The ministry’s Department of Personnel also issued a statement later yesterday, saying that it would propose “the least stringent” regulations on teacher impartiality after deliberating over related regulations in “advanced nations.”
The regulations will not affect teacher working methods or infringe upon teachers’ freedom of speech or freedom to decide on teaching materials, the department said.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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