The National Police Administration (NPA, 警政署) said yesterday that police officers have freedom of choice to join any party but political affiliations shouldn't interfere with police work.
The NPA's remark came in response to media reports yesterday that the DPP is inviting civil servants to join the party, as President Chen Shui-bian (
A local evening newspaper yesterday reported that the DPP wants to recruit the NPA's Deputy Director-General Hsieh Yin-tang (謝銀黨).
The report said that DPP officials are also contacting Keelung City Police Headquarters Director Wu Chen-chi (吳振吉), Senior NPA Councilor Ho Kuo-jung (何國榮), Taoyuan County Police Department Director Hou You-yi (侯友宜) and Presidential Office Security Department Chief Hsieh Fan-fan (謝芬芬) in this regard. Hsieh is currently the top female police officer in Taiwan.
The report says the DPP is expecting an estimated 10,000 police officers to join the party by the end of this year.
According to the NPA, 99 percent of all police officers are currently KMT members.
"That's because the KMT was the only choice for police officers a few decades ago. Joining the KMT before graduating from the police academy has also become a tradition," a senior official at the NPA told the Taipei Times.
However, NPA statistics show that nearly 40 percent of the officers left the KMT when the party lost the presidential election two years ago. Among the 80,000 police officers in Taiwan, 30,000 say they do not belong to any political party.
"Regarding the news article about the DPP's attempt to persuade as many police officers as possible to join the party, we won't take it too seriously," the senior officer said.
"Everybody's free to choose when it comes to political issues. However, a police officer is a public servant which means an officer must stay neutral and his job shouldn't be affected by any politics-related issues either. That's the bottom line." the senior officer concluded.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS