Veterans’ group 800 Heroes and other groups opposing pension reform yesterday broke into the Legislative Yuan in Taipei during a protest demanding that the government halt pension reform plans for military personnel, public-school teachers and civil servants.
Protesters at 6am got off a tour bus outside the legislature and immediately began climbing its walls and gates on Zhenjiang Street and Qingdao E Road, Sixth Special Police Corps head Chang Chuan-chung (張傳忠) said.
Although police soon forced protesters out of the compound, they repeatedly attempted to break into the building and continued their protest outside the legislature until late afternoon.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
It was estimated that more than 400 people participated in the protest, while 600 police officers were mobilized to maintain order.
During a clash with the police in the morning, retired lieutenant general and 800 Heroes spokesman Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷) fell and was sent to a hospital.
“The government has betrayed our trust and broken its promise to us,” Wu said when he returned to the protest a few hours later.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
The government in May last year pledged that it would communicate with veterans before the Ministry of National Defense sent out a draft proposal on pension reform for legislative review, “but now the Executive Yuan is about to pass the draft proposal and there has been no communication at all,” he said.
The legislature should not review the bill until the government has honored its promise to communicate with veterans’ representatives, he added.
The government should halt all pension reform plans and first try to reach a consensus with them, Wu said.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
The group is also requesting a constitutional interpretation to clarify the legality of the Pension Reform Committee, as it appears to be unsupervised and unconstitutional, he said.
“What is happening to us will happen to all military personnel in the future. Retired military personnel are treated like disposable chopsticks by the government, with no dignity at all,” he added.
Another 800 Heroes member, retired colonel Miao Te-sheng (繆德生), was hospitalized after he fell from the wall of a legislative building’s third floor at about 7am.
Footage provided by police shows he landed head-first. He was in a coma as of press time last night.
“We are sad that anti-pension groups decided to take such an irrational approach when the draft proposal is still under review at the Executive Yuan,” Chang said.
Before the protest ended at about 5pm, anti-pension reform groups clashed with members of the pro-independence group 908 Taiwan Republic Campaign on Jinan Road and burned their flag.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), former KMT chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱), KMT Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and former premier Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) all stopped by the protest to express their support.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday expressed concern about the injured protesters and called for rational discussion on proposed pension reform.
“The president believes that soldiers are the cornerstone of national security. The government has adopted a clear stance on the matter, that the ongoing pension reform for military officers should factor in the special nature of their work and be designed to encourage their long service and employment,” Presidential Office spokesman Sidney Lin (林鶴明) said.
The government would seek to fix the military pension floor at a reasonable level, within the limits of the nation’s finances, Tsai was quoted as saying.
Additional reporting by Stacy Hsu and CNA
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said