Two motor vehicle incidents renewed concern over presidential security yesterday after a man drove his sports utility vehicle into a stone planter in front of the Presidential Office Building in the morning and a woman hit a barricade near the presidential residence on her scooter. No casualties were reported in either incident.
The 39-year-old man, a Yunlin County resident surnamed Lin (林), hit the planter at about 6:42am while driving on Ketagalan Boulevard, the police said. He was not injured and was taken to a nearby police station for questioning before being turned over to prosecutors.
The stone planter, one of several erected in front of the Presidential Office Building’s driveway to prevent vehicles from nearing the building, suffered minor damage.
Photo: Chiang Hsiang, Taipei Times
The police said Lin told them he was trying to get to his cellphone so he could take a photograph while driving toward the building, and accidentally bumped into the planter.
Lin drove to Taipei on Sunday night to collect a payment owed by a client of the iron factory his family runs and decided to do some sightseeing after he could not locate the client, the police said.
He visited Liberty Square in front of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall before driving to the Presidential Office Building, the police said.
The police said Lin appeared to have no political motives, and this was confirmed by members of his family who were asked to come to Taipei to assist with the investigation.
Family members said that Lin had been emotionally unstable recently and has been seeing a psychiatrist, the police said.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was informed of the incident.
The Presidential Office issued a statement “condemning any type of violence,” adding that “the presidential office respects people’s freedom of expression.”
The scooter incident took place at about 1pm, when a woman hit a barricade in front of the president’s official residence in downtown Taipei. The police said the woman appeared to be in a trance, and they ruled the incident to be an accident.
Protective measures around the Presidential Office Building were boosted last year after Chang Te-cheng (張德正) rammed his 35-tonne gravel truck through barriers and up the front steps of the building.
He was reportedly upset by a district court ruling that sentenced him to 40 days detention over charges of domestic violence.
He was tried for attempted murder and four other charges, and on Feb. 5 last year was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison.
On Nov. 4 last year, Chen Ping-sung (陳柄菘), 60, rammed his car into the No. 3 gate of the president’s official residence to protest what he said were cases of “major medical malpractice.”
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said that perhaps the president’s office should be moved away from the city center.
“If we want peace and security in the long run, ideally the Presidential Office Building should be moved to the Hengshan Military Command Center in Dazhi District (大直),” Ko said.
He also said it was “strange” that the presidential offices were located in a building which used to be the seat of Japanese governors-general.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
RSS