Police are investigating a death threat against Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson and presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) that was posted online and has prompted the implementation of additional security measures.
Posted on Facebook last month, but only recently discovered, a user by the name of “Down Tsai” said on May 19 that the presidential candidate “deserves to be killed,” adding that “those that should be killed, should be killed.”
“[She] ought to be killed,” Down Tsai wrote after repeated requests from another Facebook user to tone down his remarks.
“Tsai really is, compared with [President] Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), more hated by people,” Down Tsai went on to write.
National Police Agency officials said two cars and eight security personnel have already been made available to Tsai, adding that additional personnel would be present at her residence in Taipei and at her campaign events.
Four police officers were present at one of her campaign events yesterday at Shih Hsin University.
A special task force has also been assigned to investigate the case, National Police Agency Deputy Director-General Lin Kuo-tung (林國棟) said.
There have been several poll-related shootings in the past, the most recent in November last year when Sean Lien (連勝文), a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) central committee member, was shot on the eve of an election after being mistaken for another elected official. Lien survived the attempt, but a bystander was killed.
Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said that death threats “would not be taken lightly.”
“We hope that this case can be dealt as soon as possible and according to law,” he said.
DPP officials said Tsai would accept police protection and that her security personnel would hold a “coordination meeting” with police later this month, despite an initial reluctance by the presidential candidate to accept protection.
Prior to the death treat, Tsai reportedly downplayed the need for police to provide a security team, instead favoring using the party’s bodyguards. She has not yet approved a list of bodyguards prepared by the ministry and given to her last month, Jiang said.
When asked about the threat yesterday, Tsai said: “We hope everyone can keep calm and stay reasonable.”
DPP politicians have compared the Internet threats with an online post in March last year that called for the assassination of Ma’s two daughters, who both reside in the US. The perpetrator, a man surnamed Chen (陳), was found within two days and he was later given a 40-day prison sentence.
“We hope police will treat both cases similarly and find the culprit in the shortest time possible,” DPP Legislator Wong Chin-chu (翁金珠) said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique