Police yesterday said that they had plans in place to deal with any potential mobster or spy activities at the demonstration in front of the Presidential Office.
"We received reliable tips that local gangsters may be involved in the rally, so we have to pay attention to that and take all necessary precautionary measures," said Wang Cho-chiun (
PHOTO: LIAO CHEN-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES
Yu Yi-hsien (
PHOTO: CHANG CHIA-MING, TAIPEI TIMES
The informant told the police that many pan-blue camp officials had recognized gangsters in the crowd during the protest at the Central Election Committee on Friday. The gangsters were allegedly planning to create trouble at yesterday's rally.
"We are still trying to confirm the tips and trying to figure out whether these gangsters were paid to participate," Yu said. "If so, who is their employer?"
Another source told police that China may send spies to inflame people's emotions by creating minor incidents during the rally.
"We have not been able to substantiate any of the claims about espionage. Our investigation did not reveal any sign that Chinese spies are involved," Yu said.
In an incident at the People First Party (PFP) headquarters on Friday, two rioters lit a petrol bomb made from a beer bottle in front of the building, then dropped the bottle and ran away. The flames were extinguished by PFP officials.
The police administration's First Peace Preservation Corp yesterday sent 200 officers to guard the Democratic Progressive Party's headquarters. Two officers and a police vehicle patrolling the area every hour were assigned to the PFP headquarters.
As of press time yesterday, no injuries or gangster activity had been reported at the protest at the Presidential Office.
The police did arrest two teenagers who brought samurai swords into the crowd. The teenagers were being questioned by authorities last night.
According to Yu, the Taipei City Police Department assigned 4,600 officers to maintain public order at the rally. The National Police Administration assigned another 4,000 officers to help.
"Everything will be under control, if the crowd stays calm," Yu said.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
China has reserved offshore airspace over the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts that are usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Sunday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. The alerts, known as notice to air missions (NOTAMs), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert
RSS