The country's top police officer yesterday issued an apology for the deteriorating law and order and vowed to take measures to reverse the situation after two politicians successively fell prey to criminal attacks last week.
Meanwhile the KMT legislative caucus laid the blame on the government, saying the fact that most DPP officials are preoccupied with stumping for fellow mayoral candidates has created an opportunity for violent crime.
National Police Administration Director General Wang Chin-wang (
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
After a closed-door meeting with KMT legislative leaders, Wang took a deep bow, saying he regretted the robbery, which took place three days after two men attempted to kidnap Taipei County Council Speaker Hsu Tsai-en (
"Maintaining law and order is the most important responsibility of the police. We need to improve in this regard," Wang said.
He added he has called on precinct chiefs nationwide to draw up measures against crime.
Wang said he is confident that Chen's attackers will soon be nabbed.
Chen when said he hopes he will be the last victim of armed robbery.
Chen was driving through Sanhsia when two cars forced him off the road. One man approached him pretending to ask for directions. The man was joined by two accomplices when Chen identified himself as a legislator. The trio made away with NT$10,000 in addition to Chen's car keys and mobile phone.
Yesterday he jokingly attributed his mishap to his failure to wear a lucky necktie pin.
His KMT colleagues linked the rising number of violent crimes to negligence on the part of the DPP administration.
KMT legislative whip Cheng Feng-hsih (
He took President Chen Shui-bian (
"Because the Chen administration is busy electioneering, lawbreakers think they can get way with their offenses," Cheng said.
Going a step further, Tseng Yung-chuan (
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai