Responsibility for the forced removal of protesters from the legislature’s front plaza which led to protests against the Zhongzheng First Police Precinct station on Friday night last week finally landed at the Taipei police commissioner’s door.
Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan (ART) convener Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴), who was hospitalized after running into traffic to delay the police action on Friday morning, returned on Sunday night to cheering crowds outside the legislature’s front door.
He thanked the protesters who “passed by” the precinct station to demand the police apologize and allow the ART to assemble, which had been unilaterally denied by the station, and said that Precinct Police Chief Fang Yang-ning (方仰寧) told him the forced eviction was done due to “pressure from above.”
Photo: CNA
“[Fang said] the order to disperse the protesters came from the top through National Police Agency Director-General Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞). So the chief culprit would either be [Premier] Jiang Yi-hua (江宜樺) or [President] Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九),” Tsay said.
According to a report by the Chinese-language China Times, the Presidential Office and the Executive Yuan have both dismissed the accusation and high-ranking police pointed to Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) as the one who had ordered the eviction.
Taipei City Government spokesman Chang Chi-chiang (張其強) responded to the allegation by saying that the commanding officer at the dispersion scene on Friday was Taipei Police Commissioner Huang Sheng-yung (黃昇勇).
“Huang made his decision in accordance with his duty and the situation, and Mayor Hau totally supports the police’s action that was based on the law. The mayor said he is willing to be held accountable if the public has any doubt against the Taipei Police Department’s decision,” Chang said.
Meanwhile, Tsay was also collecting petition signatures on Sunday night to request that the legislature grant the front plaza to the public for the supervision of the passing of the cross-strait agreements oversight mechanism and for the civic deliberation of the controversial cross-strait service trade agreement.
“When the representational system degenerates into the tyranny of the majority exemplified by the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] lawmakers, who have become a rubber stamp for Ma, people have the right to exercise their rights to directly supervise the government’s erroneous policies,” the petition says.
“As on April 10, 1999, when the plaza was once open to the public for the discussion of a referendum act, we are urging the Legislative Yuan to release the space to the citizens this time for a discussion of the pros and cons of the service trade pact and of the institutionalization of cross-strait agreements oversight mechanism,” it said.
Tsay and scores of supporters gathered outside the Legislative Yuan yesterday morning and tried to hand the petition to Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), but it was received in the end by a representative.
After a brief standoff, Tsay told the crowd that he would be back again to demand direct talks with Wang himself, using more “radical means.”
“Wang turned down our petition today. When we come next time, please do not wear slippers or shorts because you will get hurt easily,” Tsay said as he pointed to the spikes on the Legislative Yuan’s front gate.
“See these banisters and the spiked front gate, they will be painful to climb over,” he said.
He called on people to climb over the wall of the Legislative Yuan compound within the next week to show the government that the legislature belongs to the people.
ACTION PLAN: Taiwan would expand procurement from the US and encourage more companies to invest in the US to deepen bilateral cooperation, Lai said The government would not impose reciprocal tariffs in retaliation against US levies, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he announced five strategies to address the issue, including pledging to increase Taiwanese companies’ investments in the US. Lai has in the past few days met with administrative and national security officials, as well as representatives from various industries, to explore countermeasures after US President Donald Trump on Wednesday last week announced a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese imports. In a video released yesterday evening, Lai said that Taiwan would not retaliate against the US with higher tariffs and Taiwanese companies’ commitments to
‘SPECIAL CHANNEL’: Taipei’s most important tasks are to stabilize industries affected by Trump’s trade tariffs and keep negotiations with Washington open, a source said National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) arrived in the US for talks with US President Donald Trump’s administration, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. Wu was leading a delegation for a meeting known as the “special channel,” the Financial Times reported earlier. It marked Trump’s first use of the channel since returning to the White House on Jan. 20. Citing a source familiar with the matter, the Financial Times reported that Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) was also a part of the delegation. The visit came days after China concluded war games around Taiwan and amid Trump’s
CHIP EXCEPTION: An official said that an exception for Taiwanese semiconductors would have a limited effect, as most are packaged in third nations before being sold The Executive Yuan yesterday decried US President Donald Trump’s 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods announced hours earlier as “unfair,” saying it would lodge a representation with Washington. The Cabinet in a statement described the pledged US tariffs, expected to take effect on Wednesday next week, as “deeply unreasonable” and “highly regrettable.” Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the government would “lodge a solemn representation” with the US Trade Representative and continue negotiating with Washington to “ensure the interests of our nation and industries.” Trump at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on most goods
HELPING HAND: The steering committee of the National Stabilization Fund is expected to hold a meeting to discuss how and when to utilize the fund to help buffer the sell-off The TAIEX plunged 2,065.87 points, or 9.7 percent, to close at 19,232.35 yesterday, the highest single-day percentage loss on record, as investors braced for US President Donald Trump’s tariffs after an extended holiday weekend. Amid the pessimistic atmosphere, 945 listed companies led by large-cap stocks — including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Largan Precision Co (大立光) — fell by the daily maximum of 10 percent at the close, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The number of listed companies ending limit-down set a new record, the exchange said. The TAIEX plunged by daily maxiumu in just
RSS