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.
‘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