Gangsters with alleged connections to police and the military were yesterday accused of preparing to disrupt the presidential inauguration by a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei city councilwoman.
"According to our information, the Green Gang (
Yen held a news conference yesterday to play a tape which she claimed contained the threat. She refused to reveal the source of the tape or the names of people heard on the tape.
A man's voice, in what was apparently a telephone conversation, said the Green Gang was ready to call on members to attend the inauguration in order to make trouble. The man also said high-ranking police and military officers had joined the organization.
The Green Gang is an organized crime group dating to the Ching Dynasty, which it claims to have helped topple. It is estimated to have more than 200,000 members in Taiwan.
"[Former president] Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) worked with the Green Gang and used its underworld influence to help crush the Communist party in Shanghai," Yen said. "The gang later came to Taiwan with Chiang, who continued to nurture it as one of his alternative sources of power.
"And as far as I can make out, most of the gang members have good relations with the military and the police," Yen said.
Lu Pi-tsung (呂碧宗), director of the Taipei City Police Bureau's department of peace preserv-ation, said police had not received any information that gangs would create a disturbance on inauguration day.
"We are presently collecting intelligence. But no information has been verified and no concrete evidence shows that gangsters will be involved on May 20," Lu said at the news conference.
Yen demanded Lu investigate whether police had joined the organization, and asked police to be on alert for intelligence relating to the matter.
When asked about Yen's allegations, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"We have made the best preparations for dealing with a worst-case scenario." Ma said.
"But we will not dismiss anything that comes to our attention and welcome city councilors to provide any information they may have," he said.
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