Taipei police yesterday afternoon removed Green Party Taiwan candidate for the Da-an District (大安) legislative by-election Calvin Wen (溫炳原) from a tree at the Songshan Tobacco Factory after the latter stayed in the tree overnight in an attempt to prevent it from being cut down.
Environmental groups, including Green Party Taiwan, and local residents have opposed the Taipei City Government’s plan to turn the site of the former Songshan Tobacco Factory — which ceased operations in 1998 — into a sports and entertainment complex for fear that the project would damage the local ecosystem and deprive local residents of a green space at the heart of the city.
Left untouched by urban development since its establishment in the 1930s — and especially after it was shut down — the site is now covered with thick vegetation, providing a habitat to many rare species.
Despite the opposition, the city government signed a build-operate-transfer contract with the Farglory Group and began construction.
Removing old trees from the site is the initial step in the project.
Wen was among the environmentalists and local residents who rushed to block the removal of a camphor tree at the site of the factory on Friday.
While police arrested all other demonstrators, Wen on Friday escaped arrest and successfully prevented the tree from being removed by climbing it.
After several physical clashes on Friday between police and protestors, an agreement was reached whereupon four aides would be allowed to enter the site to look after Wen.
However, at about 1pm yesterday, officials from the Department of Education accompanied by police officers showed up and asked Wen’s aides to leave immediately.
As they refused to leave, police removed them by force.
“I refused to leave and the officers dragged me away and took me to the Xinyi Police Precinct Office — my back still hurts from it,” said Amnesty International Taiwan director Wang Hsing-chung (王興中), who was one of Wen’s four aides, after leaving the police station.
Afterwards, Wen, who had tied himself to the tree, was also forcibly removed by police officers who reached him only with the help of a fire truck.
“We will file a lawsuit against Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin [郝龍斌] based on the Environmental Impact Assessment Act [環境影響評估法],” Wen told the Taipei Times yesterday.
Green Party Taiwan accused the city government of violating the law because although the construction project passed the first environmental impact assessment, a second assessment was still in process since Farglory made changes to the project.
The Taipei Cultural and Sports Park — the official name of the future sports complex — executive secretary Lee Kan (李侃) declined to comment, while Department of Education Chief Secretary Lin Hsin-yao (林信耀) could not be reached for comment at press time.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as