Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) yesterday said that the barricades outside government buildings in Taipei would not be removed until “the situation has settled down” and dismissed concerns that imposing “pre-emptive detention” would turn Taiwan into a police state.
The number of police officers stationed outside the Legislative Yuan has surged since the most recent legislative meeting, when antinuclear protesters tried to stop lawmakers from leaving the compound by surrounding and jumping on their cars.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) asked Jiang at a question-and-answer session at the legislature yesterday when the barricades would be removed, but did not receive a straight answer.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
Saying that he had been asked the same question before, Jiang said: “As you can see Tsay Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴) took action last week, as I said he would.”
Tsay is the convener of the Alliance of Referendum for Taiwan, which organized the antinuclear protest and besieged the Legislative Yuan.
Jiang also invited opposition lawmakers who had also been obstructed by the protesters while attempting to leave the complex to “call on the public to stop instigating social unrest.”
Jiang was also asked to comment on a public request for the establishment of a labor union for police officers after an officer from Miaoli County died of a stroke on Thursday. The officer had been unconscious for several weeks, allegedly as a result of overexertion from being dispatched to Taipei to deal with the Sunflower movement protests against the cross-strait service trade agreement.
“Our society still has doubts about allowing public servants who hold power, such as teachers, soldiers and police, to form unions,” Jiang said.
DPP Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) criticized a proposal made by Deputy Minister of the Interior Jonathan Chen (陳純敬) on using pre-emptive detention against protesters, saying it would sow fear in society.
Jiang said that pre-emptive detention “will not target students or protesters, but a small number of people who have repeatedly led the crowd to attack the Legislative Yuan and impeded lawmakers’ access to government buildings.”
‘DEMOCRATIC FISH’: Soichiro Hayashi said he wants to return Taiwan’s kindness after it helped with relief efforts after the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami Japanese fish farmers are ready to help Taiwan after China banned Taiwanese grouper imports, the Sankei Shimbun reported yesterday. The Chinese General Administration of Customs suspended imports of the fish on Monday last week, citing prohibited chemicals and excessive levels of oxytetracycline allegedly found in grouper imports since December last year. Soichiro Hayashi, president of the Hayashi Trout Farm in Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture, is leading the push for Taiwanese grouper imports, the newspaper said. His call has caught the attention of several large sushi chains, the report said. Hayashi, who is the Fukushima branch head of the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association in Japan,
‘TROJAN HORSE’ SCHEME: The comment that a bridge would allow China’s PLA to easily launch an attack shows ‘a lack of backbone,’ Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je said Critics accused Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of being oblivious to national security concerns after he proposed constructing a bridge to link Kinmen and China’s Xiamen (廈門). Ko, who is also the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman, made the proposal when presiding over the opening ceremony of the party’s office in Kinmen on Saturday. He said the bridge could solve Kinmen’s population, electricity and garbage problems, as well as serve as a shortcut for leaving or entering Taiwan without traveling via Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport). He also proposed building a hospital in Kinmen to attract people who are seeking medical treatment in
OVER THE HUMP: In a seven-day period ending on Wednesday, the nation reported 366,628 new cases, down 19 percent from the 451,358 reported in the previous week The nation might further open up to more arrivals in the next two months, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday, as it reported 48,283 new local COVID-19 cases, down from more than 50,000 in the previous few days. Taiwan on Wednesday last week introduced a plan to allow up to 25,000 arrivals per week as part of efforts to gradually reopen borders, which includes reducing mandatory quarantines for inbound travelers from seven to three days, followed by four days in “self-initiated epidemic prevention.” The quota covers inbound Taiwanese arrivals, businesspeople and migrant workers. Former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) yesterday said
CECC UPDATE: Officials said the definition of a confirmed COVID-19 case has been revised to include those who are positive in a PCR home test confirmed by a doctor The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday said that it would probably list monkeypox as a category 2 notifiable communicable disease today or tomorrow. The WHO is to convene an emergency committee meeting today in accordance with the International Health Regulations to discuss whether the spread of monkeypox to 39 countries, including 32 non-endemic countries, constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. On Tuesday, the Singaporean Ministry of Health confirmed its first imported case of monkeypox, which is also the first case reported in Southeast Asia. South Korea yesterday reported its first confirmed case of monkeypox — a South Korean national who
RSS