More than 400 people yesterday protested at Taipei Railway Station after the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said it would permanently ban sitting on the floor of the station’s main hall.
The protesters were joined by students from Hong Kong who are studying in Taiwan and took the opportunity to support the Hong Kong democracy movement. The students waved Hong Kong independence flags and banners that read: “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times” — the slogan used in Hong Kong social movements since 2016.
“The TRA will gather public opinions and draft plans that facilitate everyone’s needs for the station as soon as possible,” TRA Deputy Director-General Feng Hui-sheng (馮輝昇) said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
In response to the protesters, the station yesterday sent 25 staff members to walk around the main hall with placards reminding people to wear masks and practice social distancing, as required by the government to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
Twenty railway police officers urged the crowd to disperse as part of disease-prevention efforts, but were ignored by the students and protesters.
In response to media queries on whether the station would issue fines, Station Master Huang Jung-hua (黃榮華) said the station was only urging the protesters to disperse at that point, and was not planning to fine those who refused to leave.
“Taipei Railway Station is an open public space. There has never been a problem with not opening it to the public. It is simply that we are facing a pandemic,” he said, adding that he hoped people would follow the advice issued by the Central Epidemic Command Center.
People often gather in the middle of the hall because there are few other places in the station to sit, one protester surnamed Fan (范) said.
The hall is also used as a gathering place by many migrant workers, demonstrating its importance to Taipei’s multicultural society, he said, adding that the large black-and-white tiled floor is an easy place for people to find when they are meeting.
The main hall is a public space similar to one of the city’s parks, a woman surnamed Yu (余) said.
“Could it be that station authorities feel it is unsightly for people to sit here?” she asked.
The station could consider letting young people use the space to hold activities, she said, adding that she did not feel that people gathering there detracted from the aesthetics of the hall.
“It does not obstruct the station’s ticket sales when people gather here, and sometimes you even encounter different cultures here,” she said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS