Summer vacations have just begun, and scooter gangs are reportedly racing around and engaging in street brawls. The National Police Administration (NPA) has declared war on scooter gangs and wants to stop them spreading from New Taipei City to Taoyuan. The Taoyuan City Police Department requested the NPA to assign 160 security and SWAT officers to aid the mission. Starting from the night of July 4, police have been cracking down on dangerous driving and have set up checkpoints on Taoyuan’s main intercity roads. Police raids will go on until the end of August.
The police department said that July 4 and 5 marked the start of the first wave of crackdowns. Taoyuan’s 10 police precincts have dispatched officers to areas with a high incidence of gang activities in their respective jurisdictions. Guishan District borders on New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang and Linkou districts. Its primary intercity roads include Wanshou Road, which links Guishan and Sinjhuang; Wenhua First, Second and Third roads; and Zhongyi and Qingshan roads, which connect Guishan and Linkou. After completing their night drills, 52 officers from the Guishan District Police Station in a dozen police cars conducted sweeping patrols of the intercity roads, setting up checkpoints around midnight and clamping down on dangerous driving behaviors such as speeding, weaving, vehicle modifications and loud noise.
Liao Heng-yu, superintendent of Guishan Precinct, says that Guishan has a unique geographical environment, with both upper and lower Guishan bordering on New Taipei City. On July 3, police were stationed to patrol intercity roads, set up checkpoints and prevent scooter gangs from spreading to Taoyuan. During the period of the special youth project, the police have made arrangements to patrol these areas on a daily basis.
Photo: Cheng Shu-ting, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者鄭淑婷
(Liberty Times, translated by Zane Kheir)
暑假才開始就屢傳飆車族、街頭鬥毆事件,警政署下令向飆車族宣戰,防堵飆車族從新北市向桃園市流竄。桃園市警局向警政署申請一百六十多名保安、維安特勤警力支援。七月四日深夜起掃蕩危險駕駛,在桃園市主要聯外道路設置臨檢點封城,掃蕩勤務將持續到八月底為止。
警局表示,四、五日兩天是第一波威力掃蕩,桃園市十個分局各自針對轄區青少年聚集熱點進行勤務規劃;龜山區與新北市新莊、林口相鄰,主要聯外道路包括連結新莊的萬壽路,連結林口的文化一路、二路、三路及忠義路、青山路,龜山警分局四日深夜勤教後,五十二名警力分乘十多輛警車,浩浩蕩蕩直搗交界路段巡邏,凌晨時段設置路檢點,取締危險駕駛,發現有超速、蛇行、改裝、噪音等危險駕駛行為一律攔檢取締。
分局長廖恆裕表示,龜山區地理環境特殊,上、下龜山區與新北市都有交界,三日就投入警力在連結道路巡邏、設置路檢點,防堵飆車族流竄到桃園,青春專案期間每天均規劃巡邏警力。
(自由時報記者鄭淑婷)
K-pop oozes with talent, flair and hard work, but the spectacularly successful South Korean music industry also has a dark side — sometimes with tragic results. After BTS’s comeback concert on Saturday, AFP looks at the intense competition, the grueling training, the tight control over stars’ lives and the sometimes obsessive fan behavior in the industry. 300 GROUPS South Korean record labels launch dozens of new groups every year in the hope they will become the next BTS or Blackpink, but with some 300 outfits already out there, the big time is elusive. The tiny minority of the thousands of young hopefuls
A: K-pop supergroup BTS is set to tour Taiwan at the end of the year, putting on three shows in Kaohsiung on Nov. 19, 21 and 22. B: But before that, VieShow Cinemas across Taiwan will launch the “BTS World Tour ‘Arirang’ in Japan Live Viewing” from the Tokyo Dome on April 18. A: In recent years, BTS’ junior groups — Tomorrow X Together (TXT) and CORTIS, which debuted under the same label in 2019 and 2025 respectively — have also quickly become global sensations. B: I like those two groups, too. Didn’t TXT just perform at the Taipei Dome recently? Their popularity
Heavy rain brought by Typhoon Ragasa caused the barrier lake above Matai’an Creek in Hualien’s Guangfu Township to overflow on Sept. 23 of last year. The sudden rush of water and mud destroyed a major bridge and swept through nearby villages, leaving significant damage in its wake. The barrier lake was formed in July, when heavy rain caused landslides and blocked the creek’s natural flow. As rainwater built up, the lake grew increasingly unstable. When Typhoon Ragasa hit, the water level rose rapidly and finally overflowed. In the aftermath, volunteers across Taiwan, known as “shovel supermen,” stepped in
A new international study revealed that spruce trees in an Italian forest can respond to a solar eclipse. To be more specific, they actually anticipate it by synchronizing their bioelectrical signals hours before the event. To monitor this phenomenon, scientists attached special sensors to the trees to track their electrical activity. They discovered that older trees started changing their signals even before the eclipse occurred. Researchers believe these older trees may store memories of past events and send early warnings to younger ones. This bioelectrical signaling system appears to help the forest avoid problems like drying out during the