A series of attacks on Friday took Paris by storm, leaving at least 128 people dead, with the death toll expected to rise. Considering that they were facing armed attackers threatening an entire city, the French police and military brought the situation under control in a relatively timely matter. The tragedy in Paris might raise concern about how fast and how well the Taiwanese government would react if a similar incident happened in Taiwan.
Compared with most nations, law enforcement and other security personnel in Taiwan are relatively “at ease,” while most people who have needed to call the police often complain about delays and the inefficiency of police officers.
Last year, when university student Cheng Chieh (鄭捷) attacked passengers on a Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) train, there was a two-minute delay between the MRT’s traffic control center being alerted by passengers using the onboard intercom system and the center reporting it to the police.
It took more than 10 minutes for the police to arrive at the scene, which allowed Cheng to threaten more passengers on the platform after getting off the train at Jiangzicui Station — and it was an elderly passenger who first moved to stop Cheng before the police arrived.
Law enforcement has also been slow to react when important government buildings, such as the Presidential Office Building in Taipei, is threatened.
In the past few years, there have been a number of protests targeting the building and many of the protesters were able to get very close to the walls surrounding the complex.
In a protest by laid-off workers, the military police in charge of guarding the building rushed to the scene only after protesters hurled shoes over the wall and sat in front of an entrance gate.
What would have happened if the protesters threw explosives into the complex, or if they decided to smash through the gate instead of sitting down?
In 2008, after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was sworn into office, but before he moved into his official residence, a group of Losheng Happy Life Sanatorium preservationists staged a surprise protest outside Ma’s private home in Taipei.
Neither the president’s bodyguards nor the police guarding his home were informed about the protest in advance — though many media outlets were — and police reinforcements did not arrive until 30 minutes after the protesters’ arrival.
Borders and airports are often the first line of defense against potential attacks from overseas.
However, last week, a luggage controller at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport was seen playing games on his smartphone instead of looking at a screen as passengers’ luggage passed through an X-ray machine.
Earlier this year, a passenger flew from the Taoyuan airport to Seoul with a live cat in their checked baggage, while another passenger was found to have placed about 4 liters of petroleum in their checked baggage and passed through security controls.
With attackers assaulting random targets instead of landmark buildings, the nation’s law enforcement and security agencies should know that it is not impossible for similar attacks to take place in Taiwan, and they should be prepared to prevent and deal with such incidents.
Recently, China launched another diplomatic offensive against Taiwan, improperly linking its “one China principle” with UN General Assembly Resolution 2758 to constrain Taiwan’s diplomatic space. After Taiwan’s presidential election on Jan. 13, China persuaded Nauru to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan. Nauru cited Resolution 2758 in its declaration of the diplomatic break. Subsequently, during the WHO Executive Board meeting that month, Beijing rallied countries including Venezuela, Zimbabwe, Belarus, Egypt, Nicaragua, Sri Lanka, Laos, Russia, Syria and Pakistan to reiterate the “one China principle” in their statements, and assert that “Resolution 2758 has settled the status of Taiwan” to hinder Taiwan’s
Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s (李顯龍) decision to step down after 19 years and hand power to his deputy, Lawrence Wong (黃循財), on May 15 was expected — though, perhaps, not so soon. Most political analysts had been eyeing an end-of-year handover, to ensure more time for Wong to study and shadow the role, ahead of general elections that must be called by November next year. Wong — who is currently both deputy prime minister and minister of finance — would need a combination of fresh ideas, wisdom and experience as he writes the nation’s next chapter. The world that
The past few months have seen tremendous strides in India’s journey to develop a vibrant semiconductor and electronics ecosystem. The nation’s established prowess in information technology (IT) has earned it much-needed revenue and prestige across the globe. Now, through the convergence of engineering talent, supportive government policies, an expanding market and technologically adaptive entrepreneurship, India is striving to become part of global electronics and semiconductor supply chains. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Vision of “Make in India” and “Design in India” has been the guiding force behind the government’s incentive schemes that span skilling, design, fabrication, assembly, testing and packaging, and
Can US dialogue and cooperation with the communist dictatorship in Beijing help avert a Taiwan Strait crisis? Or is US President Joe Biden playing into Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) hands? With America preoccupied with the wars in Europe and the Middle East, Biden is seeking better relations with Xi’s regime. The goal is to responsibly manage US-China competition and prevent unintended conflict, thereby hoping to create greater space for the two countries to work together in areas where their interests align. The existing wars have already stretched US military resources thin, and the last thing Biden wants is yet another war.