To the public, the presidential residence may have an aura of mystery about it. But for the personnel in charge of security, it is filled with pressure and tedious duties. Staff must always be on alert and the slightest mistake could result in disciplinary action.
Presidential security is the remit of the National Security Bureau.
A security guard at the presidential residence who asked to remain anonymous told the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister paper) that security had become much stricter and more thorough following the March 19, 2004, shooting incident -- a reference to the attempted assassination against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), in which Chen was grazed by a bullet and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) was hit in the knee while they were campaigning in Tainan on the eve of the 2004 presidential election.
The security guard said that in the past, when Cabinet members or Democratic Progressive Party heavyweights visited the president, their chauffeurs were allowed to walk freely around the resting area.
But since the March 19 incident, all drivers have had to wait in a predetermined area and are no longer allowed to walk around freely.
Entering cars are also carefully searched and body searches are stricter than at international airports, with metal detectors meeting the strictest standards, he said.
A VIP once had to go through a metal detector five times -- removing belt, watch and other accessories -- before it was determined that a metal clip on the sole of a shoe had set off the detector. The visitor said he had often traveled abroad wearing the same shoes without detectors going off -- evidence of the sensitivity of the equipment used in the presidential residence.
Three layers of guards -- inner, middle and outer layers -- include police and military police, but ordinary security guards themselves are not allowed in the president's residential area. Instead, personal body guards stand at the door and control every visitor.
Family relations and emotional reactions are the biggest problems for these guards, who spend more time away from their families than with them and are under constant pressure, the security guard said.
Sungshan police district once arrested a young security guard from the presidential detail when he tried to mitigate the pressure and routine by leaving the compound between shifts to meet a woman after agreeing on a price for her services over the Internet.
To the guard's surprise, there was no woman at the agreed meeting place. Only police.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators
RSS