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Minister slams Ma's handling of station rally

Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) yesterday demanded that Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) apologize to the public for his handling of the rally against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) at the Taipei Railway Station.

Lee slammed Ma in a ministry press release for having allowed anti-Chen protesters to demonstrate at the station day and night since Saturday, saying that the station was the city's premier transportation hub and consequently unsuitable for an around-the-clock protest.

Ma risked the safety of Taipei residents by allowing such a protest to take place at a busy transit point, Lee said, adding that travelers whose political opinions differed from those of protesters were being accosted.

A Taipei City Government spokeswoman at the Department of Information refused to comment on Lee's criticism of the mayor.

"We need to get confirmation of Mayor Ma's position before we can say anything," she said, identifying herself merely as "Ms. Wu" (吳).

She added that she didn't know when or if the mayor would respond to Lee's comments.

Making room

According to a press release issued by the Taipei City Government on Sunday, Ma said that he had agreed to move the anti-Chen protest from Ketagalan Boulevard to the railway station to make room for pro-Chen supporters who have protested on the boulevard since Saturday. In order to separate the two groups of protesters, Ma had no choice but to allow the anti-Chen protesters to move to the station, the release said.

Chen Feng-nan (陳峰男), deputy director of the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA), said on Thursday that the Taipei Railway Station was "not a place for protests."

Chen and Railway Police Bureau Deputy Director Lee Chen-kuang (李振光) told reporters at a press conference in Taipei that protesters would not be allowed to sleep or protest in the station, adding that the station was the "most important transportation hub in northern Taiwan."

However, numerous protesters have been sleeping and protesting in the station, according to local media.

"It's actually okay if [the protesters] rest [in the station] at night," Chen told the Taipei Times yesterday, adding that some protesters may have shouted slogans "once or twice," but hadn't interfered with railway operations.

`Just too many'

"There are just too many [protesters], and you can't force them [to leave]," administration spokesman Teng Chia-chi (鄧家琦) said.

Lee Chen-kuang told the Taipei Times that protesters in the station are often travelers, too.

Exceptions need to be made as long as safety and order are not compromised, he added.

Both Chen Feng-nan and Lee Chen-kuang said that protests haven't interfered with railway operations, and that the trains were running smoothly.

Regarding recent altercations between the pro-Chen and anti-Chen camps at the protests, Lee Yi-yang said in the ministry statement that unlawful behavior would not be tolerated.

"Since the anti-Chen sit-in began, anti-Chen protesters have turned over cars and motorbikes," Lee Yi-yang is quoted as saying in the release. He added that pro-Chen protesters had sabotaged the broadcast booths of CtiTV and the Eastern Broadcasting Company at their demonstration.

Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) was shown on local television escorting a CtiTV anchorman on Saturday from Ketagalan Boulevard as pro-Chen protesters jostled the newscaster and overran his booth.
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