The Taipei Police Department is launching an investigation into a violent altercation between protesters and police on Monday that left two former police officers and four journalists injured.
The Retired Police Officers’ Association, the Taiwan Association of Retired Firefighters and the Retirement Association for Taiwanese Educators and Civil Servants held a march protesting pension reforms that are to go into effect on July 1.
The officers and journalists were injured in a scuffle that broke out after a protester surnamed Lin (林) attempted to remove the national flag from the top of the gate to the Control Yuan, police said.
Photo: CNA
The primary suspects are a veteran surnamed Kang (康) and two retired policemen, surnamed Liao (廖) and Wu (伍), department Deputy Director Huang Chi-tze (黃啟澤) said yesterday.
Kang has already visited a police station to give an affidavit, Huang said, adding that the station has sent notices to Wu and Liao asking them to also give affidavits.
If necessary, the department would file for a subpoena for the former officers, both of whom are registered members of the Hualien Retired Police Officers’ Association, Huang said.
One of the injured officers suffered an injury to a finger on his right hand, while the other sustained an injury to the bridge of his nose, Huang said.
The journalists have already brought charges against the suspects, who could be charged for contravening the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), Huang said.
The National Police Agency yesterday afternoon issued a statement urging the department to conclude investigations and bring action against the perpetrator or perpetrators as soon as possible.
Police can order marches to halt or disband if participating individuals have attempted to obfuscate their identity after the authorities have ordered them to reveal themselves, the agency said, citing provisions in the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法).
Due to the increasing number of protesters who cover their faces while engaging in violent acts, the agency said it would demand that police departments at all levels strictly adhere to the regulations.
Meanwhile, several bills scheduled for review at the Legislative Yuan yesterday were stymied by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus, which filed a request to send the bills to cross-caucus negotiations before a dozen caucus members joined the retirees’ protest.
The legislature was scheduled to pass amendments to the Act for Industrial Innovation (產業創新條例), a bill for the act on preventing the spread of viruses against which humans lack immunity and a bill on patients’ rights protections, but the KMT caucus used its legislative authority to send the bills to a round of negotiations.
The caucus reportedly wanted to use the bills as a bargaining tool to pressure the Democratic Progressive Party to make further concessions on the proposed pension reform plan for military retirees, which are to advance to committee review after public hearings on the issue are held.
The KMT caucus on Monday called for an additional 20 hearings on military pension reform to be held nationwide after repeatedly demanding that four hearings be held at the legislature.
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