Hundreds of white-clad protesters against the student-led occupation of the Legislative Yuan yesterday held up banners urging people planning to participate in a mass pro-occupation demonstration on Ketagalan Boulevard that day to “go home and return the legislature to the people.”
Waving Republic of China (ROC) flags and wearing white T-shirts printed with the slogan: “Come forward for stability, Taiwan goes global” (安定站出來, 台灣走出去), the anti-occupation protesters gathered outside the Exit East 3 of Taipei Main Station at 2pm yesterday in an attempt to “talk some sense” into people who traveled to Taipei by trains for the mass protest against the cross-strait service agreement yesterday afternoon.
“We want to see the controversy dealt with via the representative system instead of street protests. If the students think the system is flawed, they should resort to deliberative democratic mechanisms or popular referendums, not take to the streets as people did decades ago,” said Sun Chien-ping (孫健萍), convener of the White Civil Justice League, which initiated the anti-occupation protest.
Photo: CNA
The so-called “white-clad army” then marched toward Zhongshan N Road, which is 30 minutes’ walking distance from Ketagalan Boulevard.
It originally planned to rally on the road until 7pm, the planned conclusion time of the Ketagalan protest, but was advised to return to the station by police after causing severe traffic jams.
Supporters of the pact have put up boards reading: “Punish violence” and “Return the legislature to the people” on the pedestrian walkway at the intersection of Zhongxiao W Road and Zhongshan S Road.
However, the signs were quickly changed by opponents of the agreement into “Punish ‘governmental’ violence” and “Return the ‘democratic’ legislature to the people.”
Throughout the process, only verbal disputes broke out between the white-clad army and the black-clad activists protesting against the pact.
The pact has stirred up public concerns since its signing on June 21 last year and prompted hundreds of students to occupy the legislature on March 18 after the way the pact with China was fast-tracked through a legislative committee by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers.
Public divisions over the agreement are deepening as President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) remains adamant in his determination to bring the deal into effect.
‘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 High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS