Supporters of the Losheng (Happy Life) Sanatorium yesterday clashed with police, who blocked their attempt to enter Taipei City Hall after city officials refused to meet them and accept a petition calling for a halt to the construction of an MRT maintenance depot.
On Thursday the activists marched for 17km from the sanatorium to city hall and camped outside overnight to press their demands.
“Step out to take the responsibility, [Taipei Mayor] Hau Lung-bin” (郝龍斌), the angry crowd shouted as they pushed forward, trying to go into the city hall, but were pushed back by police officers holding shields.
Photo: CNA
“You have violated the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法). Please back down and leave,” the police said through a loudspeaker.
No one listened, and the pushing and shoving continued, until police began dragging and arresting some of the demonstrators.
Other protesters reacted by trying to pull their companions back and yelling at the officers.
Photo: CNA
The conflict broke out just after 9am when about 100 protesters — mobilized by the Youth Alliance for Losheng and the Losheng Self-Help Organization — said they wanted to deliver a petition asking the city government to suspend the construction of an MRT maintenance depot on the site where the sanatorium is located in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District (新莊).
They said the construction has caused another landslide at the site recently.
City officials declined to come out and meet them.
“[The city government] has forcibly evicted Losheng residents and sacrificed the interests of the socially disadvantaged [for the MRT construction],” alliance member Lin Hsiu-peng (林秀芃) said.
“It neither cares for the lives of these people, nor the sanatorium, which is an important cultural asset,” Lin said.
With no official response forthcoming, the alliance vowed to take further action.
“As the city government has disturbed the lives of Losheng residents, we will also try to disrupt the MRT system,” Lin said.
“We would like to apologize to passengers who may be effected by our actions, but I hope that, rather than complaining, you would take some time to learn about this serious problem that has been around for 10 years,” Lin said.
Completed in the 1930s, the sanatorium was home to thousands of people with Hansen’s disease, also known as leprosy, who were kept there by force, first by the Japanese colonial government and then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime, as the disease was thought to be highly contagious and incurable.
More than a decade ago, the government said that the sanatorium would be razed to make way for an MRT maintenance depot, triggering an opposition campaign that has compelled the government to agree to preserve a portion of the site.
However, as preservationists have long said, the construction has led to several landslides, causing several construction suspensions.
Recently, landslides have recurred, damaging some of the remaining buildings and leading the city’s Department of Rapid Transit Systems to ask the remaining residents to evacuate.
‘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 magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
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