The high-profile trial of eight young activists charged over an alleged incident involving China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) began yesterday.
On June 26 last year, members of the Black Island National Youth Front allegedly blocked a road by chaining themselves together before Zhang’s tour of New Taipei City’s Wulai District (烏來) — an Atayal Aboriginal village.
Despite being swiftly removed and arrested by police officers, the activists managed to delay Zhang’s visit to the village by 20 minutes.
Photo: Chen Chih-chu, Taipei Times
Eight group members — including students Dennis Wei (魏揚) and Lai Ping-yu (賴品妤) — were indicted last month on criminal charges of coercion (強制罪) and obstruction of public traffic and communication (妨礙公共交通往來).
Group members played a key role in last year’s Sunflower movement, in which student-led protesters in Taipei occupied the legislature’s main chamber for nearly 23 days in March and April over the government’s handling of the cross-strait service trade pact.
The activists yesterday said that while their blockade denied pedestrian and vehicular access to Wulai, their goal was to stop President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration from “incessantly leaning toward China politically and economically.”
They asked if the administration was trying to “prevent ambassadors from the ‘celestial kingdom’ from hearing Taiwanese voices,” using an archaic term for China.
“Since the [Chinese] special ambassador was in Taiwan to discuss important issues involving economic trade — which would create a large impact on people’s livelihoods — why would the government not allow people to express their opinions?” Wei asked.
Lai said that citizens should have the right to express their opinions through protests and demonstrations, and accused the government of abusing its power through judicial channels.
Human rights lawyer Greg Yo (尤伯翔), one of the volunteer lawyers on the case, said that it was “deeply regretful” that the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office decided to indict the activists, adding that he believed that the court would protect their freedom of speech.
If found guilty, the activists could be sentenced to up to three years in prison for coercion, and up to five years in prison for obstruction of public traffic and communication.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to