The National Security Bureau (國安局) said yesterday that four officials, including bureau chief Ting Yu-chou (丁渝洲), will be punished for their failure to prevent former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) from being splattered with red ink on Saturday.
Ting personally called a press conference to announce the punishment list.
Ting said President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had approved a reprimand for negligence in supervision.
The other three officials to be punished are Lieutenant General Hu Chen-chiu (胡鎮球), who is to receive two reprimands for negligence in supervising; Chou Wen-piao (周文彪), a security section chief, who is to receive one reprimand for failing to properly plan and carry out his duties; and Cheng Wei-teh, (鄭偉德), a personal guard assigned by the NSB to the former president, who is to receive one reprimand for negligence in performing his duties, according to Ting.
Ting said the NSB has launched an investigation into the incident and found that the Special Service Command Center (特勤中心), which is in charge of safeguarding the security of the former president, should be held responsible for its failure to check guests in the VIP seats where 70-year-old veteran Shih Li-hsing (史力行), who poured red ink on the former president, was seated. Ting also said the officers failed to bring the incident to a quick end.
Shih said he splashed ink on former president Lee Teng-hui (
Shih was released Sunday on NT$30,000 bail after undergoing questioning. Shih's attorney, Lin Hsien-tung (
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
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
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
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