Lawmakers and Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) debated amendments to the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) yesterday, with a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmaker calling for it to be abolished altogether.
DPP Legislator Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) re-proposed amendments to the act this legislative session, saying she had proposed them in the previous legislature, but they did not pass a final reading due to a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) boycott.
“We all know the law was established in 1988 as one of the three laws for national security [with the other two being the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Civil Associations Act (人民團體法)] for the government to retain its power over the people and restrict the public’s basic human rights after martial law was lifted” in 1987, Cheng said.
“The Assembly and Parade Act, instituted with a Martial Law-period mindset, contradicts the Constitution, which guarantees people’s rights to assembly and demonstration,” she said.
Cheng said that authority given by the act should be moved from “the police agencies to the Ministry of the Interior and local governments.”
“However, the most important amendment would be scrapping the regulation requiring people to apply for government approval before staging an outdoor assembly or a parade. Under the amendment, people would need to notify the agencies of their plan only if they choose to,” Cheng said.
Cheng said that the “necessary notification” required by the amendment proposed by the Executive Yuan “is in essence no different from the existing regulations that require approval.”
Cheng motioned for the removal of restriction on the places demonstrations and assemblies could be staged and of the power of the authorities to call for the dispersal of assemblies.
“The Executive Yuan’s proposal keeps the dispersal power, which has been a source of tension between the police and the people,” she said.
Meanwile, DPP Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) called for the act to be abolished altogether.
“We have seen state violence in response to a series of street activities in the past years, but when an opposition party, striving to amend the law, becomes the ruling party, it changes its mind and says that the law is appropriate,” Lin said.
“We have to state it clearly that we have no confidence in any ruling party, regardless of which it is; we have no confidence that state violence would not fall upon the people” with the law as it is, she said.
“Some might question how social stability could be maintained without the law, but social stability [should not be conditioned on] the curbing of the people’s basic rights. With the abolishment of the act, administrative regulations could instead be established for to maintain order,” Lin said.
“We have to follow their trend because they have more votes,” KMT Legislator Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) said. “It would be fine for me if they want Taiwan to be more chaotic. It is our turn to take to the streets.”
Chen Wei-zen said the amendments have to be carefully deliberated as, for instance, changing the regulations to voluntary notification would cause problems concerning proposed routes, schedules and the possibility of facing provocation.
Abolishing the restricted zones would also put the security of key agencies and facilities at risk, he added.
‘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