The central government will step in to maintain law and order if Taipei City police are unable to keep the anti-President Chen Shui-bian (
"Taipei City Police Department is responsible for maintaining law and order at the sit-in site," NPA Deputy Director Hung Sheng-kun said. "However, if the situation gets out of hand and jeopardizes the safety of the central government, we will step in and activate a mechanism to protect the nation's leadership and help the city police handle the situation."
Hung made the remarks during a question-and-answer session after delivering a report on public security to the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) legislative caucus at the legislature yesterday morning.
TSU legislative caucus whip Huang Chung-yung (黃宗源) requested state police arrest demonstrators assaulting passersby or motorists moving past the demonstration area.
Hung said that they would point out the situation to the city police and let them deal with the problem.
When pressed by TSU caucus whip Liao Pen-yen (廖本煙), Hung said that city police should make arrests in accordance with the law, no matter if the arrest was made on the spot or after sufficient evidence had been collected.
Full enforcement
When asked how the NPA would respond if city police refuse to follow their orders, Hung said that "there is only one standard of implementing the law. That is, the law must be fully enforced."
Vice Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) said that while the city police should not intervene in legal assemblies and marches, the agency would step in if protesters break the law.
As the organizers of the anti-Chen campaign plan to relocate the demonstration to Taipei Railway Station on Friday after marching to the Presidential Office and the president's official Yushan Residence, Chien said that his agency would keep a close eye on developments.
The Presidential Office yesterday expressed the same opinion, saying that any illegal behavior would not be tolerated and that they hoped the demonstration would end peacefully.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Yun-peng (鄭運鵬) yesterday called on his party to pressure the president and the Executive Yuan to map out a plan to resolve the political stalemate and then take the resolution to former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德), the instigator of the anti-Chen campaign. Cheng said negotiations should be held on how to end the protest.
Cheng added that the DPP opposed the anti-Chen movement but it did not necessarily mean that the party should support the president.
Proactive
"The party should take a more proactive approach and respond to the demands of protesters in a bid to break the current political impasse," he said.
In other related developments, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
Opposed to violence
The Liberty Times reported that Wang had been told that the US wouldn't get involved in the anti-Chen campaign, but that it opposed Taiwanese people using violence or a strike in urging Chen to resign.
Wang refused to comment on the reported message, saying that it was inappropriate to disclose his talks with US officials, referring to Stephen Young, director of the American Institute in Taiwan's (AIT) Taipei Office.
"I did meet with him two weeks ago and again yesterday. It's natural for him to express his concern about Taiwan's political situation," Wang said.
He said that the US has been consistent in that it won't interfere with Taiwan's domestic affairs, and "we respect that."
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
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