Three students and a fourth person were arrested at New Taipei City’s Fu Jen Catholic University at 1am yesterday after allegedly attempting to topple a bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and obstructing police officers.
Equipped with an angle grinder, a generator and a rope, student Lo Yi (羅宜) allegedly began cutting the statue at 12:30am, which drew the attention of university guards.
Officers from the Sinjhuang Precinct’s Fuying Police Station arrived minutes later.
Photo: CNA
Precinct investigation brigade head Chang Chun-ming (張俊明) told the students that their actions were in breach of the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) and constituted vandalism, adding that they would be arrested if they did not stop.
A crowd near the statue told officers that they had no right to arrest students on campus unless the university gave them permission.
Chang said that the officers were acting on a request by the university.
Photo: Lee Ya-wen, Taipei Times
Chang and several colleagues engaged in a loud exchange with Lo and others. They pulled Lo away from the statue, prompting scuffles.
Lo and another student, surnamed Chen (陳), were subdued by several officers and handcuffed.
A woman, surnamed Chen (陳), who the police said was “making irrational remarks,” was also handcuffed.
Another student, surnamed Lin (林), who was taking photographs at the scene, was also detained.
Lo was detained for breaches of the act, while the others were obstructing police officers in the course of their duties, Chang said.
They were taken to the precinct for questioning and at 8am were sent to the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office.
They were later released after the university said it would not file charges.
Lo made a hole near a foot of the statue and broke a cane Chiang holds, the university said, adding that repairs would cost about NT$5,000.
Lo said that statues of Chiang on campuses nationwide are defaced or tampered with by students ahead of Feb. 28 every year and are restored.
However, it is time they are toppled “once and for all,” he said.
TENSIONS: The Chinese aircraft and vessels were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a joint air and sea military exercise, the Ministry of National Defense said A relatively large number of Chinese military aircraft and vessels were detected in Taiwan’s vicinity yesterday morning, apparently en route to a Chinese military exercise in the western Pacific, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. In a statement, the ministry said 36 Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft, including J-16 fighters and nuclear-capable H-6 bombers, crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait or an extension of it, and were detected in the southern and southeastern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) from 5:20am to 9:30am yesterday. They were headed toward the western Pacific to take part in a
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The government would cancel kendo practitioner Su Yu-cheng’s (蘇郁程) nationality if he is confirmed to have represented China in the World Kendo Championships in Milan, Italy, last week, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. “We have consulted the Sports Administration and were told that athletes participating in the championships must have the nationality of the country that they represent. They must also present their passports as proof,” council spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a weekly news conference. “If Su indeed represented China in the championships, we suspect that he has obtained Chinese nationality.” The Act Governing Relations Between the People of the