A Taipei city councilor hopeful yesterday accused Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei mayoral candidate Sean Lien (連勝文), his father, former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), and his campaign executive director of wasting taxpayers’ money by having police officers serve as their bodyguards.
“Last year, Lien Chan applied to the National Police Agency to have nine officers from a special police unit serve as his personal bodyguards. Lien Chan even asked the officers to follow his son, Sean Lien, to ensure his safety when Sean Lien makes public appearances,” Chien Sheng-che (簡聖哲), a Taiwan Solidarity Union Taipei city councilor candidate, said at a news conference. “This year, even Sean Lien’s campaign executive director has applied for a police officer from the special police unit to serve as his bodyguard.”
KMT Legislator Alex Tsai (蔡正元) is the executive director of Sean Lien’s campaign.
Chien said that as a legislator, Tsai had proposed that some privileges and subsidies lawmakers enjoy be removed, but “now he is asking to have a police officer as his personal bodyguard.”
With the salaries of the nine officers protecting the two Liens totaling more than NT$6 million (US$200,000) a year, while an officer serving as Tsai’s bodyguard would be paid NT$675,000 a year, Chien said they would all be waste of taxpayers’ money.
He said Tsai is the only Taipei or New Taipei City lawmaker to have applied for police protection.
“The Liens are one of the wealthiest families in Taiwan. Tsai is also a rich person. They should hire their own bodyguards, not get free service at taxpayers’ expense,” Chien said.
Tsai denied any police serve as Lien Chan’s bodyguards, while Sean Lien’s security personnel consists of retired military and police officers and are paid by him.
As for himself, Tsai said he has received threats because of his outspokenness on talk shows.
“The police repeatedly reminded me to be careful and said I could apply for an officer to act as a bodyguard,” Tsai said. “I followed the suggestion and filed an application, which was approved by the National Police Agency and the Taipei City Police Department, so it is entirely lawful.”
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