Civic groups yesterday slammed the government for making the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) “even stricter than before"by requiring protesters to notify the authorities before staging demonstrations.
The history of the act can be traced back to 1988, just after martial law was lifted.
post-martial era
It was written to avoid social upheaval in the post-Martial Law era, while seeming to protect the public right to hold rallies.
Activists have long criticized the act for restricting freedom of expression rather than protecting it.
The act requires demonstrators to apply for a permit before any protest takes place and grants police the power to disband a demonstration.
It also prohibits demonstrations near government buildings and foreign diplomatic missions.
CIVIC GROUPS
Civic groups, including the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR), the Judicial Reform Foundation (JRF), the Green Party and the Youth Labor Union, yesterday held a joint press conference to protest potential revisions to the act that would make it even stricter than before.
They chose yesterday to make their concerns public because amendments will go to a general vote in the legislature today.
Although both Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party legislators, as well as the Cabinet, support the notification system, they argued over whether it should be mandatory or voluntary.
THE SAME
TAHR chairman Lin Chia-fan (林佳範) said that requiring demonstrators to notify the authorities beforehand was essentially the same as asking for approval first because it still goes against the concept of demonstrators having the freedom to notify government officials.
However, “a voluntary notification system allows demonstration organizers to decide for themselves whether it is necessary to call on the government for assistance,” he said.
Taipei Bar Association secretary-general Kao Yung-cheng (高涌誠) said that if lawmakers supported a mandatory pre-notice system, they should conduct a statistical analysis of how many demonstrations complied with the notification system and how many violated it.
“A very limited number of unannounced demonstrations ended in violence,” Kao said.
ABOLITION
The groups also called for the abolition of the powers police have to disband demonstrations, as well as a slimmed-down version or complete abolition of the areas that are off limits to demonstrators.
Under the proposed amendment, “if a person were to yell protests near [President Ma Ying-jeou, 馬英九] the person would immediately be taken away by the police,” Green Party Taiwan Secretary-General Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) said.
“[The amendment would] blur the lines of police exercising their power,” Pan said.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
‘SIGN OF DANGER’: Beijing has never directly named Taiwanese leaders before, so China is saying that its actions are aimed at the DPP, a foundation official said National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) yesterday accused Beijing of spreading propaganda, saying that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had singled out President William Lai (賴清德) in his meeting with US President Joe Biden when talking about those whose “true nature” seek Taiwanese independence. The Biden-Xi meeting took place on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Peru on Saturday. “If the US cares about maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait, it is crucial that it sees clearly the true nature of Lai and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in seeking Taiwanese independence, handles the Taiwan question with extra
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
RSS