June 26 Wulai Vehicle Interception Protest

On June 26, 2014, on the second day of the visit to Taiwan by Director Chang Chih-chun of China's Taiwan Affairs Office, he was scheduled to visit Wulai. Public groups long concerned with cross-strait negotiation issues—such as the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement, the Goods Trade Agreement, and the Free Economic Pilot Zones—had repeatedly attempted to express their views directly to Chang Chih-chun without success. Consequently, they staged a surprise protest at the 10.2-kilometer mark of New Wulai Road, the sole route to Wulai. Tying themselves together with chains and hemp ropes in a single line, they locked both ends of the chains to guardrails on either side and held banners in an attempt to block the path of Chang Chih-chun's motorcade, hoping to voice the Taiwanese public's opinions on economic policy negotiations involving Chinese factors.

In response to Chang Chih-chun's itinerary, the police had stepped up patrols along his route, and therefore removed and arrested the protesters before Chang arrived at the protest site. On December 11, 2014, all 8 protesters were indicted by the prosecutor.

Case Overview

There are currently 8 defendants in this case, represented by 24 pro bono lawyers through the legal aid platform. The case was filed in the Taipei District Court, where oral arguments for the first instance concluded on December 18, 2015, and the judgment was scheduled to be delivered at 4:00 p.m. on January 15, 2016.

The Taipei District Court ruled in the first instance that the eight individuals did infringe upon the rights of road users, but because their actions stemmed from the public interest and had benevolent motives, it was a guilty verdict exempting them from punishment. The defense team appealed to the second instance. The Taiwan High Court found that the defendants' motives were indeed based on the public interest and that the methods employed were not excessive. On February 9, 2017, the court changed the judgment to acquit all eight individuals. As the prosecutor did not file an appeal, the acquittal became final.

The charged offenses and number of defendants are listed in the table below:

Indicted Offense	Number of Defendants
Article 185: Endangering Public Traffic Safety (punishable by up to 5 years)	8 persons
Article 304: Offense of Compulsion (punishable by up to 3 years)	8 persons

Special Thanks to the Lawyers Who Assisted in This Case

• Attorney Ting Wen-sheng
• Attorney Yu Po-hsiang
• Attorney Wang Chan-hsing
• Attorney Wang Mu-ning
• Attorney Yu Tsung-ming
• Attorney Li Chüan-ho
• Attorney Lin Chun-hung
• Attorney Lin Chien-hung
• Attorney Lin Chang-yeh
• Attorney Tang Yu-ying
• Attorney Kao Yung-cheng
• Attorney Chang Ching-ya
• Attorney Liang Yen-ni
• Attorney Ch'en Wan-yu
• Attorney Tseng Wei-kai
• Attorney Huang Po-chang
• Attorney Huang Kuo-cheng
• Attorney Huang Shu-fang
• Attorney Liu Kuan-ting
• Attorney Liu Chi-wei
• Attorney Tsai Tsung-chao
• Attorney Chiang Hsin-yu
• Attorney Lai Ying-chen
• Attorney Lo Yi-tzu
• Attorney Hsieh Fu-kai
• Attorney Lo Wan-ting
• Attorney Ku Li-hsiung