TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The National Taiwan University Student Association (NTUSA) has expressed sadness after crackdowns on pro-Palestine students protesting in the U.S.
More than 2,100 protestors have been arrested across U.S. universities in recent days as the campuses have become a focal point for protests against the ongoing war in Gaza.
“When Columbia University students expressed their peaceful demands, they were treated ruthlessly by the school and violently suppressed by police,” NTUSA head Chuang Chih-cheng (莊智程) told Taiwan News in a written statement on Saturday (May 5).
"We deeply regret this and feel sad that mankind continues to repeat the mistakes of history,” Chuang said, likening the situation to student-led protests during the Vietnam War. “Regardless of the political situation between the Israeli government and Hamas, unarmed civilians have the right to speak up for their own survival,” he said.
Chuang said the NTUSA has not expressed a position on the Israel-Palestine conflict, but that it maintains that there are no winners in war. National Taiwan University (NTU) and Columbia University are partner schools, but Chuang said there have been no exchanges between their respective student organizations.
Taiwan’s government has shown some support for Israel following the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel that left over 1,100 dead and set off the most recent escalation in conflict in Gaza. “Taiwan’s cooperation with Israel is in the interest of expanding international visibility and influence, and it is certainly a diplomatic policy,” Chuang said.
However, he said the NTUSA calls on the government to “adhere to the spirit of humanity” and to provide assistance to civilians affected by the conflict. Chuang emphasized that discrimination against Jews or Palestinians was unacceptable, and said no one should lend support to hatred or violence.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry has repeated that it hopes all parties involved work toward a ceasefire, in response to previous queries about its position on the conflict.
