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.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
RSS