Several university student groups in the central and southern parts of the country launched sit-ins yesterday in support of the student demonstrators at Liberty Square in front of National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall.
Holding up posters that read “human rights,” about 20 students launched their sit-in campaign in front of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan amid drizzling rain.
“We support the three statements of [the students] in Taipei. President Ma [Ying-jeou (馬英九)] and [Premier] Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) should apologize to the people while [National Police Agency (NPA)] Director-General Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞) and [National Security Bureau] Director-General Tsai Chao-ming (蔡朝明) should step down,” Huang You-heng (黃羑衡), the spokesman for the protesters at NCKU, told reporters.
PHOTO: CHAN CHAO-YANG, TAIPEI TIMES
“We hope similar campaigns will be launched at every university in Taiwan,” Huang said.
Meanwhile, a group of students began another sit-in at the Peoples’ Square in Taichung City yesterday afternoon in support of their counterparts in Taipei.
TAIPEI
PHOTO: CNA
About 400 students, led by National Taiwan University sociology professor Lee Ming-tsung (李明璁) began their silent sit-in on Thursday in front of the Executive Yuan in Taipei.
The protesters have argued that police used excessive force against demonstrators opposing the visit of China’s Association for the Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) between Monday and Friday last week.
The students urged the government to amend the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法) by removing the article that obliges rally organizers to gain police approval before launching an event.
The students were evicted from the Executive Yuan by the police on Friday night because they had not filed an application for their sit-in in accordance with the Assembly and Parade Law.
They reassembled at Liberty Square later that night.
RAIN OR SHINE
The sit-in at the square has continued, despite poor weather.
“Many people think we are staging the protest against a specific political camp. Therefore, we would like to emphasize our call for an amendment to the Assembly and Parade Law,” said Chou Fu-yi (周馥儀), a representative of Taipei students.
Chou said no government officials — except director of Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall Tseng Kun-ti (曾坤地) — had checked on them since they reconvened at the hall.
Ho Tung-hung (何東洪), an associate professor of psychology at Fu Jen Catholic University and a participant in the Wild Lily Student Movement (野百合學運) in the 1990s, visited the students in Taipei to share his experiences yesterday, encouraging them to cherish their opportunity to participate in the sit-in.
Wu Eing-ming (吳英明), president of Kaohsiung Open University, also visited the students on behalf of Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊).
Wu lauded the students’ action, saying that their campaign showed the nation should spend next year “relearning the value of human rights.”
In related developments, heated exchanges between government officials and legislators were expected to take place in the legislature today as the Internal Administration Committee has convened a special report by Wang regarding the NPA’s behavior last week.
For his part, Minister of Health Yeh Chin-chuan (葉金川) is scheduled to report today on the food safety agreement signed by Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman Chiang Ping-kun (江丙坤) and Chen Yunlin last week to the legislature’s Health, Environment and Labor Committee.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS