Some college professors have offered their support to students who took part in the overnight protest at the Legislative Yuan over the controversial cross-strait service trade agreement by saying that they are more than willing to teach extra classes to make up for time that the students miss to participate in the event.
National Taiwan University assistant professor Chen Po-chan (陳伯楨) said 10 students were missing from his class yesterday, but added that he would not mark them as absent if they were participating in the protest.
Chen said he would rather encourage students to join social events because it presented good learning opportunities, adding that he would be glad to provide make-up classes for those that were absent due to the event.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Shih Hsin University Department of Graphic Communications and Digital Publishing associate professor Chen Shuei-sheng (陳學聖) also said he would be glad to provide extra classes.
Chen Hsueh-sheng made special mention of how the Wild Lilies student movement (野百合學運) of the 1990s had made significant changes to the then-National Assembly.
Using a wild lily as a symbol, the movement drew tens of thousands of people — mostly college students — to call for changes, including the dismissal of the National Assembly, abolishing the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion (動員戡亂時期臨時條款), holding a high-level national policy conference and drawing up a reform timetable.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA) instructor Chien Tzu-chieh (簡子傑) announced yesterday morning that any students in his class who “checked in” on Facebook from the Legislative Yuan would be marked as on leave for official business.
Later yesterday afternoon, NTUA officials said on the school’s Web site that Chien’s post on Facebook was his personal opinion and was not the department’s.
Chien was not authorized to grant “leave on official business,” the Web site said.
Separately yesterday, 300 students from Providence University gathered at a plaza on the school’s campus chanting: “I am a student of Providence University, I am against the service trade agreement.”
“We oppose under-the-table deals, we are the bulwark for democracy” in support of the protesters who were still at the Legislative Yuan,” the students said.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS