In an effort to improve his reputation abroad, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) sent a legislator, a police bureaucrat and a justice ministry official to Washington on Monday to argue that recent charges of Taiwanese police brutality were a “misunderstanding.”
After making a 90-minute presentation at the Heritage Foundation — a conservative think tank — the team moved on to the US Congress to distribute a statement denying that police were anything other than victims in the protests against Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin's (陳雲林) visit last month.
“The idea of political persecution, the idea that President Ma is using the law as a tool to get even with or to punish members of the previous government is a complete misunderstanding,” said Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑), the chair of the legislature's Judiciary, Organic Laws and Statutes Committee.
The statement, bound in a yellow plastic folder and containing 17 color photographs showing police under attack by protesters — and one color picture of a small girl handing a rose to a police officer under the guidance of an adult — were prepared by the National Police Agency and the Ministry of the Interior.
It said that 150 police officers had been injured — compared with just 30 protesters and reporters — and that protesters had hurled Molotov cocktails, stones and human waste at the police.
It denied that police had stopped protesters from waving Republic of China or Tibetan flags or that they closed down a record store playing patriotic Taiwanese music.
The statement further said that on the day before Chen's arrival in Taiwan, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) politicians were offering cash prizes to anyone who succeeded in hitting him with an egg.
The prize offer was in fact made by the Northern Taiwan Society civic group.
“Freedom of expression is very strongly protected in Taiwan,” the statement said.
It said that creating an independent commission to investigate the clashes was unnecessary and inappropriate. But the report conceded that “the police should be required to further improve their technique for crowd control.”
In conclusion, the report said: “Our police have shown great restraint in dealing with demonstrations.”
Later, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs — a non-profit group supporting Taiwan's independence — said that between 200 and 300 protesters were injured during Chen's visit, that no DPP politician had offered cash for throwing eggs at Chen and that there was strong evidence of police acting violently against peaceful protesters.
In the case of the record shop, it said that video footage showed police officers forcing the shop owner to close the shop by lowering the shutters.
Last month, 18 Taiwanese-American organizations released a statement saying they were “outraged” by the actions of the Ma administration in quashing mass protests during Chen's visit.
“Taiwan has seemed to revert to the days of Martial Law where there was no freedom of speech, no personal liberties, no freedom of association but only the confrontation between the police force and public,” the statement said.
During the presentation at Heritage, Hsieh, National Police Agency Senior Executive Officer John Chu (曲來足) and Ministry of Justice Counselor Chin Jeng-shyang (覃正祥) were peppered with questions that cast doubt on their version of events, as well as a complaint regarding selective use of photographic evidence.
In what appeared to be an attempt to justify the actions of police during Chen's visit, Hsieh said he had lived in Los Angeles for 10 years and “I know what police brutality is and Taiwan does not have a police brutality issue.”
In his introductory remarks, and like Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) before him, Hsieh said several times that former president Chen Shui-bian had been charged prior to his arrest. In fact Chen has been detained without charge. Hsieh seemed confused about the detention and prosecutorial process, claiming a distinction between being charged and being indicted. When asked to explain the difference, he provided no answer.
He said that Ma had resisted attempts by his “true, loyal supporters” to interfere in the judicial system, and that the president “might have the power to tamper with” the judicial system but chose not to.
Hsieh also said the Egmont Group's report of data that pointed to Taiwanese money-laundering involved “Chen Shui-bian's family's money-lending activity around the world.”
This has yet to be determined by a court.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
BACK TO WORK? Prosecutors said they are considering filing an appeal, while the Hsinchu City Government said it has applied for Ann Kao’s reinstatement as mayor The High Court yesterday found suspended Hsinchu mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) not guilty of embezzling assistant fees, reducing her sentence to six months in prison commutable to a fine from seven years and four months. The verdict acquitted Kao of the corruption charge, but found her guilty of causing a public official to commit document forgery. The High Prosecutors’ Office said it is reviewing the ruling and considering whether to file an appeal. The Taipei District Court in July last year sentenced Kao to seven years and four months in prison, along with a four-year deprivation of civil rights, for contravening the Anti-Corruption
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
RSS