Student protesters occupying the Legislative Yuan’s main chamber yesterday began cleaning up the room, following their leaders’ announcement on Monday night that they plan to withdraw from the legislature at 6 pm tomorrow.
Some students vacuumed the carpet, rolled up sleeping bags and rearranged the furniture, while others cleaned the desks and podium, taking down the posters and banners plastered around the chamber after protesters began their occupation on March 18 to protest the government’s handling of the cross-strait service trade pact.
A Facebook page was set up early yesterday morning by netizens who support the Sunflower movement, calling for public help and donations to repair and pay for any damage to the legislature.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Titled “Repairing 318 Legislative Yuan,” the page went online just a few hours after the student leaders of the protest announced their withdrawal plan.
Legislative Yuan staffers have previously said that the student occupation damaged chairs, doors, carpets microphones, the broadcasting system and some valuable paintings. Some local media reports have quoted unnamed sources as saying the repairs and clean-up operation could cost more than NT$100 million (US$3.3 million).
Employees of the Legislative Yuan’s General Affairs Department yesterday entered the main chamber to begin assessing the damage.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Unconvinced by reports of multimillion dollar estimates, the “Repairing 318 Legislative Yuan” Facebook page asked construction, engineering, design and broadcasting experts to assess the venue and help give their own estimates for repair jobs.
The page has received several fervent responses, with one netizen saying that “the student protesters have written a new chapter in Taiwan’s history and pushed your future and mine in a good direction. In return, they faced legal charges and the burden of hefty repair bills.”
While some Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have said that the government should not use taxpayers’ money to cover the restoration costs, General Affairs Department head Tsai Wei-min (蔡衛民) turned down the offer from netizens to help pay, saying the legislature will take care of the operation.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Meanwhile, the Democratic Front Against Cross-Strait Trade in Service Agreement yesterday appealed for public donations, saying the student protest movement is NT$2.53 million in debt as of Monday.
A netizen named “omanorboyo” reposted the request on the Professional Technology Temple (PTT) — the nation’s largest academic online bulletin board — saying: “It is time for us to come forward, at least so the students can exit honorably, without [financial] burdens.”
Additional reporting by CNA
‘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
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
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
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
RSS