Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday strongly condemned pension reform protesters who blocked athletes from entering the Taipei Municipal Stadium on Saturday evening at the beginning of the Universiade opening ceremony.
“The city government expresses the strongest condemnations to the protesting groups,” Ko said as he made a four-point statement during an impromptu afternoon news conference at Taipei City Hall.
“The Universiade is Taiwan’s Universiade and a happy celebration for the whole nation, but the groups protesting against pension reform intentionally disrupted the opening performances, which was not only a violation of the law, but also invalidated the legitimacy of their arguments,” he said.
Photo: CNA
“During the Universiade, if anyone intends to affect the proceeding of the Games or threaten the personal safety of athletes, the police will strictly enforce the law, without leniency, to ensure that similar incidents will not happen again,” he said.
The police have reviewed the incidents outside the stadium and will enhance measures to prevent similar incidents, Ko added.
He thanked the audience for giving the athletes their passionate support so the opening ceremony could proceed smoothly after the impasse was ended, and to his colleagues who responded quickly to resolve the crisis.
The protesters did not break through the police lines and fences surrounding the passageway to the stadium, but some of the athletes might have been frightened by the shouting and air horns, he said.
The International University Sports Federation, the organizing body of the Universiade, last night said that it asked Taipei authorities to review “future arrangements.”
The Presidential Office said that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) had asked Ko and the heads of security departments to a meeting after the ceremony to discuss the security deployment and commanders’ responses.
Tsai asked for stricter law enforcement and an investigation to prevent a reoccurrence of such an incident during the Universiade.
Ko yesterday said Saturday discussion also concluded that fences should be set up with a wide enough buffer zone so that protesters would not be able to get close to the athletes.
The initial security measures were mainly aimed at preventing terrorist attacks, not toward “our own people and groups who are being destructive,” Ko said.
“As I have said before, these people intentionally came to disrupt a significant international event in the nation, the bastards!” he added.
“Being the mayor of the host city, I take full political responsibility for the incident,” he said. “I hope all the Universiade staff will continue to stick to their posts so that the events can proceed smoothly to the end, and we will review and deal with the issues after the Games conclude.”
At a separate news conference, Huang Sung-chen (黃嵩琛), head of the Taipei Universiade Organizing Committee’s security department, said there were many pension reform protesters sounding air horns and throwing smoke bombs outside Taipei Municipal Stadium on Saturday night, forcing the athletes to wait in a holding area.
The police took about 10 minutes to disperse the protesters and the committee informed the athletes, who were then able to march into the stadium at 7:39pm after a 20-minute delay, he said.
The police had protected the athletes and the protesters did not break through the police lines, he said.
Taipei committee spokesman Yang Ching-tang (楊景棠) said 28 groups and about 1,100 people were involved in the protest, and the situation was quickly brought under control by the police and committee.
Committee chief executive officer Su Li-chung (蘇麗瓊) said the committee would cooperate with the city police to enhance inspections and would be on alert for similar disruptions at Games venues, and that strong measures would be taken immediately if necessary.
Additional reporting by CNA
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