The Homemakers’ Union and Foundation yesterday accused the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau (MJIB) of harassing its officials after the foundation launched a signature drive for a referendum on the controversial issue of US beef imports.
Officials from the Homemakers’ Union and Foundation protested against the MJIB’s actions outside the Ministry of Justice in Taipei yesterday afternoon.
Mary Chen (陳曼麗), a foundation board member, said an MJIB agent surnamed Wu phoned the secretary of the foundation’s Taichung branch, Lin Shu (林淑), a few days ago asking her about the progress of the signature drive.
Chen said Wu also visited the Taichung branch on May 7 to learn about the branch’s activities and asked them to hand over information about the signature drive.
Chen added that MJIB agents had also visited the foundation’s Kaohsiung branch a few times to inquire about the progress of the signature drive.
“The MJIB’s investigations into the activities of civic groups are the kind of thing that went on during the White Terror, so it appears that the nation’s human rights have taken a step backwards,” Chen said.
Lin said she was terrified that MJIB agent Wu was able to get her cellphone number and call her. She said later that Wu’s cellphone number had disappeared from her cellphone record.
MJIB chief secretary Wu Li-chen (吳莉貞) said yesterday that she had visited the foundation to apologize for the agent’s behavior, adding that the bureau has banned such activities.
The Homemakers’ Union and Foundation has been working with the Consumers’ Foundation and the John Tung Foundation as well as other groups since November to collect signatures supporting a referendum on reopening talks with Washington about US beef imports. The signature drive continues.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
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