Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday reiterated a warning to late-night entertainment proprietors and local police to better combat street fighting after a spate of violence in the past few weeks.
Heeding the premier’s demand, police in major cities have over the past few days increased patrols and checks at nightclubs, hostess bars and karaoke parlors.
Police need to crack down on public rowdiness in areas with “special entertainment businesses,” as such occurrences have negatively affected people’s perception of public safety, Su said.
Photo: Chang Jui-chen, Taipei Times
“To make these places safe, police must ensure that illegal drugs are not sold, and that there are no stabbings or violence. If more public violence occurs, then the local police chief will have to go,” Su told a Cabinet-level public security meeting on Wednesday.
“Nightclub proprietors and police chiefs understand what I said earlier. People must not underestimate my resolve and our government’s ability to handle the problem,” Su said yesterday, while also asking police to put more effort into curtailing drunk driving.
Mass brawls broke out on two consecutive nights last week in Taichung, while a number of knifing and fighting incidents in Kaohsiung and the Taipei area have been reported this week.
In raids over the past few days, 19 foreign women allegedly working as prostitutes — 13 from Thailand, five from China and one from Vietnam — were arrested, along with nine Taiwanese clients, National Police Agency officials said yesterday.
Police also detained two alleged leaders of sex trade operations that hired the women and arranged for their transport to a number of Taipei hotels, they added.
Officials said they are still searching for a man surnamed Chang (張), who allegedly has connections with international human trafficking rings and brought foreign women into the country to work in the sex industry.
Meanwhile, Taichung nightclub X-Cube, the site of one of last week’s mass street brawls, announced a temporary shutdown following a police raid.
It has been accused by police of offenses against sexual morality by hiring scantily clad female dancers to interact with male patrons.
Kaohsiung police yesterday morning also conducted sweeps of dance halls and nightclubs.
To publicize their efforts, media were permitted to film officers checking IDs on scantily clad female dancers.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS