The National Nuclear Abolition Action Platform yesterday accused the government of using state violence to evict anti-nuclear protesters who occupied Taipei’s Zhongxiao W Road on Sunday evening into early yesterday morning.
Tens of thousands of people on Sunday afternoon marched in an anti-nuclear protest march from Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building to Zhongxiao W Road in front of the Taipei Railway Station, where they lay down or sat in the road, paralyzing traffic in an area usually thronging with cars and buses.
At about 9pm on Sunday, the National Nuclear Abolition Action Platform, which organized the protest, said it was not satisfied with the announcement that the govenment would halt construction of the two reactors at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant because it was made by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), rather than the Executive Yuan.
Photo: David Chang, EPA
It announced that the protesters would continue paralyze the road until they get an acceptable official response.
At about 10:30pm, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said the city government would use any means to restore traffic for Taipei residents by yesterday morning.
Despite being warned in advance by protest organizers that a forced eviction could take place after midnight, more than 1,000 protesters remained sitting on the road in raincoats, with their arms locked together.
Photo: Reuters
After advising the protesters to leave on their own accord at about 12:30am yesterday, the police turned water cannons on the crowd at 2:47am, followed by police forcibly dragging away the protesters at about 2:50am, gradually herding the crowd from Guanquan Road toward Zhongshan S Road.
Several clashes broke out as rows of police with batons and shields in hand forcefully pushed the protesters to move as protesters chanted: “Terminate the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and return power to the people,” “the people are unarmed so the police should not use violence” and “Police please step back.”
Sunflower movement student leaders Chen Wei-ting (陳為廷) and Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) were pulled from the ground and taken into a police bus, and many other protesters were forced to leave the street after being pulled up.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Protesters shouted: “There are children in the tents” when the police got close to tents with children in them, but the police continued herding the crowd and cleared most of Zhongxiao W Road by about 5am, with only about 100 protesters on the ground encircled by the police at the intersection with Zhongshan S Road.
During the eviction, police fired water cannons directly at the protesters more than a dozen times.
At about 6am, protesters were still being dragged or carried away one-by-one, and several reporters were also treated violently as they were evicted near the intersection, with a few of them banned from taking photographs, or hit with batons by the police, causing physical injuries or damage to equipment.
Traffic was restored on Zhongxiao W Road at about 6:50am, and some remaining protesters were forced to move to Zhongshan S Road.
Later yesterday, the National Nuclear Abolition Action Platform issued a statement saying that “Mayor Hau promised to return a normal life to citizens, but the danger caused by nuclear power has the real, serious impact on people’s lives.”
“Hau gave up the peaceful measure of asking the Cabinet to make an official and positive response, but ordered the police to use force against unarmed citizens, which is the worst measure to treat the people,” it said, adding that it “strongly condemns the government of using inappropriate violence.”
It urged protesters who were harmed or treated inappropriately during yesterday’s eviction to contact the platform for medical and judicial assistance, and urged people to submit photographic evidence of the eviction process.
Separately, Taipei Police Zhongzheng First Precinct investigative team head Chou Yu-wen (周郁文) said five people were arrested and 40 were injured early yesterday when police began dispersing the protesters.
National Taiwan University Hospital said it had treated 26 people, most of them with external injuries.
Some of the injured were also taken to Taipei City Hospital, where three of them were hospitalized for observation and 11 were treated and released, according to Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics.
Additional reporting by CNA
BAIL APPEALS: The former vice premier was ordered to be held incommunicado despite twice being granted bail and paying a total of NT$12 million in bond The Taoyuan District Court yesterday ordered the detention of former vice premier Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), who is being investigated for alleged corruption while serving as Taoyuan mayor from December 2014 to December 2022, and that he be held incommunicado. The court made the ruling during a bail hearing after prosecutors appealed its bail ruling twice. Cheng on Saturday was released after posting bail of NT$5 million (US$153,818). However, after prosecutors lodged an appeal, the High Court on Monday revoked the original ruling and ordered the Taoyuan District Court to hold another bail hearing. On Tuesday, the district court granted bail to Cheng a second
The Thai government on Friday announced that Taiwanese would be allowed to stay in the country for up to 60 days per entry, under the Southeast Asian country’s visa-free program starting from today. Taiwan is among 93 countries included in the Thai visa-waiver program, which has been expanded from 57 countries, with the visa-exempt entry extended from 30 to 60 days. After taking office last year, Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has vowed to grant more visa waivers to foreign travelers as part of efforts to stimulate tourism. The expanded visa-waiver program was on Friday signed by Thai Minister of the Interior Anutin
PEACE AND SECURITY: China’s military ambitions present ‘the greatest strategic challenge to Japan and the world, Japan’s annual defense white paper said yesterday Japan yesterday warned that China risked escalating tensions with Taiwan with an increase in military exercises that appeared aimed in part at readying Beijing’s forces for a possible invasion. Japan’s annual assessment of security threats, including those posed by China, North Korea and Russia, comes as Taiwan closely monitors Chinese People’s Liberation Army air and sea exercises, including one with the Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific Ocean. The drills are the latest in a series including maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait last year that a senior US general said would be key to any invasion. “Because of that increase in military activity,
HAN KUANG: The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers said The armed forces would for the first time test new rules of engagement (ROE) at this month’s annual Han Kuang exercises, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said yesterday. The exercises, which are to run from July 22 to 26, will feature unscripted war games, and a decentralized command and control structure, military officers told a news conference in Taipei. ROE cards would be issued to select combat troops to test their ability to function without tight control, they said. The most recent edition of the rules was published last year, they said. One of the cards’ two templates identifies enemy targets that soldiers