Some 20 members of the Committee for Action for Labor Legislation (工人立法行動委員會) went to the Legislative Yuan yesterday to demand that two DPP legislators who had accused organizers of a workers' demonstration of "working for China" to prove their accusations or resign.
"The two legislators abused their rights of free speech. They just want to distract attention from the government's labor policies," said Ho Yian-tang (
DPP legislators Lee Ming-hsien (
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
They alleged that one of the committee's founders, Cheng Tsun-chi (
They also said that the secretary-general of the Chinese Federation of Labor, Wang Juan-ping (王娟萍), is close to the Chinese government, citing her attendance at Chinese national day celebrations in Beijing on Oct 1.
The protesters did not succeed in confronting the two legislators. But DPP legislative whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) promised that he would urge the two to provide explanations for their comments within three days.
Later yesterday, the two legislators, speaking to reporters at the Legislative Yuan, reiterated their worries that Taiwanese workers "may be being manipulated by anti-Taiwan forces."
"We received the information from our friends doing business in China, but we can't release their names," Lee Ming-hsien told reporters.
Ho said that they would continue to protest until the two legislators offer a reasonable explanation.
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
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The government would cancel kendo practitioner Su Yu-cheng’s (蘇郁程) nationality if he is confirmed to have represented China in the World Kendo Championships in Milan, Italy, last week, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. “We have consulted the Sports Administration and were told that athletes participating in the championships must have the nationality of the country that they represent. They must also present their passports as proof,” council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a weekly news conference. “If Su indeed represented China in the championships, we suspect that he has obtained Chinese nationality.” The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the
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