Two opposition legislators and a pair of opposition party officials were subpoenaed by police yesterday for their conduct during the Double Ten National Day celebrations.
The investigation stems from scuffles between pan-green and pan-blue lawmakers which marred President Chen-Shui-bian's (陳水扁) Double Ten National Day speech outside the Presidential Office.
The event was attended by foreign dignitaries.
The day's festivities began with red-clad Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] and People First Party (PFP) legislators attempting to disrupt the president's speech, chanting "A-bian step down," making thumbs-down gestures and holding up red banners that read "Depose Chen."
"A-bian" is the president's nickname.
PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) also tried to lead his party members in approaching Chen during the middle of the president's speech.
One of the men subpoenaed, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Chao-jung (陳朝容), said yesterday that because the celebration's preparatory committee had erected a white cloth barrier separating the lawmaker's seats from the president's grandstand, the ceremony became "like a memorial service," so that he had decided to leave. However, he denied disrupting the ceremony.
"The police dare not probe big cases, but choose to investigate trivial matters like this," Chen Chao-jung told the press yesterday as he completed a police interview in Taipei.
PFP Legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄), also questioned yesterday, said he had not disturbed the marching honor guards, but ran between them using "rugby skills" he had learned at school.
The other two who were subpoenaed were PFP communications department deputy head Wu Kun-yu (吳崑玉) and Soong's secretary, Wei Chih-chung (魏志中). The pair were seen to hold signs reading "A-bian step down" behind President Chen.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
RSS