Following violent clashes between opponents and proponents of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in Kaohsiung City on Monday night, a tense shouting match took place yesterday between rival protesters in Tainan City, where anti-Chen protesters were staging a sit-in.
To prevent scuffling between the two camps, more than 100 police officers were despatched to the scene and barricades were set up.
An anti-Chen supporter wearing a red shirt had her red car smashed by pro-Chen protesters when she was on her way out of the protest site.
TV news clips showed pro-Chen supporters hitting and kicking the back of the car as the woman drove away.
One protester shattered the rear windshield, while another used his helmet to smash the front windshield and dent the hood.
Another anti-Chen woman was hit by a rock and was later rushed to the nearby hospital.
An Asia Television cameraman was hit in the mouth by a placard that had been thrown at him.
TV political commentator Wang Ben-hu (
The anti-Chen sit-in was scheduled to end at 10pm and by 10:18 participants were being transported from the site in police buses.
Tainan City Police Chief Wang Wen-chung (
Meanwhile, on Monday night, approximately 100 anti-Chen protesters and 2,000 Chen supporters engaged in a shouting match at the intersection of Chunghua Road and Shihchuan Road in downtown Kaohsiung, where Chen Chun-sheng (
Significant numbers of the president's supporters in this traditional Democratic Progressive Party stronghold thronged to the site after watching TV news reports of the standoff.
Instead, divided by police barricades, the rival camps traded barbs.
Some of Chen's supporters clashed with police while trying to break through police barricades.
While the number of Chen's supporters on the scene continued to increase, the anti-Chen protesters gradually left under police escort. At about 11:30pm, the president's supporters broke through the police barricades, plunging the scene into chaos. Police immediately erected barbed wire barricades and used a police bus to remove the remaining 20-odd anti-Chen activists from the scene.
The situation was brought under control by around midnight.
Police said six separate altercations had taken place and that three Chen supporters had been arrested on suspicion of assaulting anti-Chen protesters and police officers. The three were freed early yesterday morning after being interviewed by police. Police said they would decide later whether to charge the individuals after perusing recordings of the incidents.
Kaohsiung City Police Chief Tsai Yi-ren (
Tsai told the press that police would not tolerate any further protests that were not approved by the city government.
Additional reporting by Ko Shu-ling
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS