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Jason Hu heckler arrested
‘TRAITOR’: Taichung police charged a student with
disturbing public order after security officials found a boxcutter in his
pocket. The student’s father apologized
By Rich Chang and Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTERS
Wednesday, Mar 17, 2010, Page 1
A security guard restrains a student at
National Chung Hsing University in Taichung yesterday after he yelled “traitor
to Taiwan” at Taichung Mayor Jason Hu, who was there to attend a seminar.
PHOTO: CNA
A college student was arrested and charged with violating the Social Order
Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法) yesterday after heckling Taichung Mayor Jason Hu
(胡志強).
Hu was attending a forum at National Chung Hsing University on the merger of
Taichung City and County and development of the new city — Greater Taichung — in
relation to a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) between
Taiwan and China.
As Hu wrapped up his speech and was preparing to leave, two students shouted
“traitor to Taiwan” (賣台奸) at Hu.
Security quickly stopped the two and detained them. They handed one of the
students, surnamed Cheng, over to Taichung police for questioning after finding
a boxcutter in his pocket. The other student, surnamed Yang, accompanied Cheng
to the police station.
Police said Cheng is a junior student of computer science at Asia University,
while Yang is a history student at National Chung Hsing University.
Cheng was released from the police station at about 4pm in the company of his
father.
Yang told reporters outside the police station that they heckled Hu because they
were unhappy with the content of his speech.
Cheng had a boxcutter on his person because he needs it for his part-time work,
Yang said.
Yang said that he and Cheng were members of the Greater Taichung Youth
Association — a pro-independence group.
Hu told a press conference in the afternoon that Cheng’s father had “apologized
to me and said he hoped I would not file a lawsuit against his son.”
“I will not file a lawsuit,” Hu said, adding: “I respect different opinions, but
students should behave properly. Young people should think more about their
actions.”
Cheng’s father also went to Asia University yesterday afternoon to ask the
school not to expel his son.
The university said it would arrange counseling for Cheng, but if he were later
convicted of a crime, the university would hold a disciplinary meeting.
Meanwhile, Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) yesterday expressed optimism about
an ECFA, saying it would happen in the “very near future.”
The administration plans to sign the pact in the first half of the year. Beijing
has said it hoped to see it happen in May or June. Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) told
the legislature yesterday that the second round of official talks on the deal
would likely take place around March 22.
Siew said that as Taiwan no longer enjoys the advantage of cheap labor, it has
to focus on services.
The government’s goal is to build Taiwan into a regional or global operation
center for all industries and a springboard to the Chinese and other markets, he
said.
“Taiwan must remove trade barriers, so the government has proposed an ECFA,
which will be signed in the very near future,” Siew told an investment forum in
Taipei yesterday morning.
Once an ECFA is signed, Siew said the next step was to integrate the Southeast
Asian market to facilitate the signing of free-trade agreements with other
countries.
Meanwhile, Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) yesterday
rejected a proposal by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), backed by the
Democratic Progressive Party caucus, to establish a legislative task force to
supervise cross-strait affairs.
In a statement, Lai said the council fully respects the legislature’s right to
oversee cross-strait policy and would continue reporting to it about the ECFA’s
negotiation process.
However, she said the legislature already had a sound mechanism in place to keep
the council in check.
Lai also said that an ECFA would steer clear of sovereignty and political
issues.
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