Health and Environment Committee Convener Lin Yue-chin Condemns Insult Incident at Public Hearing
Lin Yue-chin, convener of the legislature's Health and Environment Committee, condemned an incident where a scholar was insulted during a public hearing on the Air Pollution Control Act, emphasizing that she will uphold parliamentary order and the rights of speakers.
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- 📰 Published: May 18, 2026 at 11:52
- 🔍 Collected: May 18, 2026 at 12:01 (9 min after Published)
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(CNA, Taipei, 18th) During a public hearing on the Air Pollution Control Act held by the Legislative Yuan's Social Welfare and Health Environment Committee on the 11th, a scholar was subjected to table-pounding and insults from an environmental group, with the meeting's chair failing to intervene. The committee's chair, Lin Yue-chin, issued a statement today, asserting that the committee has a responsibility to protect the rights of every invited speaker, who should not be humiliated or threatened.
The Social Welfare and Health Environment Committee reviewed a draft amendment to the Waste Disposal Act today. Lin Yue-chin, serving as the convener for the week, made the aforementioned statement after declaring the meeting open.
At the air pollution law hearing on the 11th, Professor Jhuang Bing-jhe of National Chung Hsing University's Department of Environmental Engineering, also a member of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union's academic committee, was invited to speak. During his address, he was cursed at with profanities by Yeh Kuang-peng, chairman of the Taiwan Healthy Air Action Alliance, and Lin Tsui-lan, convener of the Nantou Healthy Air Action Alliance. The meeting's chair at the time, KMT convener Lu Hsien-yi, did not intervene and, like many others present, filmed the conflict with his phone.
The Health Environment Committee meeting was delayed this morning due to a lack of quorum, only reaching it after 9:30 AM.
After calling the meeting to order, Lin Yue-chin delivered her statement on the conflict from the 11th. She said the purpose of a public hearing is to allow different positions and expertise to be fully heard, not for anyone to use insults, table-pounding, or intimidation to suppress others' speech. The committee has a responsibility to protect the rights, including personal safety, of every invited speaker from verbal abuse. "Scholars can be questioned, and their opinions can be refuted, but they cannot be humiliated, let alone threatened," she stated.
Lin said that in the future, within the committee's domain, regardless of who is presiding, disorderly conduct should be immediately stopped to maintain basic parliamentary order. This is not about favoring any side, but about upholding the dignity of the Legislative Yuan as the nation's democratic hall of deliberation. (Editor: Su Lung-chi) 1150518
The Social Welfare and Health Environment Committee reviewed a draft amendment to the Waste Disposal Act today. Lin Yue-chin, serving as the convener for the week, made the aforementioned statement after declaring the meeting open.
At the air pollution law hearing on the 11th, Professor Jhuang Bing-jhe of National Chung Hsing University's Department of Environmental Engineering, also a member of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union's academic committee, was invited to speak. During his address, he was cursed at with profanities by Yeh Kuang-peng, chairman of the Taiwan Healthy Air Action Alliance, and Lin Tsui-lan, convener of the Nantou Healthy Air Action Alliance. The meeting's chair at the time, KMT convener Lu Hsien-yi, did not intervene and, like many others present, filmed the conflict with his phone.
The Health Environment Committee meeting was delayed this morning due to a lack of quorum, only reaching it after 9:30 AM.
After calling the meeting to order, Lin Yue-chin delivered her statement on the conflict from the 11th. She said the purpose of a public hearing is to allow different positions and expertise to be fully heard, not for anyone to use insults, table-pounding, or intimidation to suppress others' speech. The committee has a responsibility to protect the rights, including personal safety, of every invited speaker from verbal abuse. "Scholars can be questioned, and their opinions can be refuted, but they cannot be humiliated, let alone threatened," she stated.
Lin said that in the future, within the committee's domain, regardless of who is presiding, disorderly conduct should be immediately stopped to maintain basic parliamentary order. This is not about favoring any side, but about upholding the dignity of the Legislative Yuan as the nation's democratic hall of deliberation. (Editor: Su Lung-chi) 1150518