A child protection plan revived by the Taipei City Government last week differs from a plan the city canceled in March, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday.
He said that the city government’s announcement of the plan’s cancelation in March had been “imprecise,” failing to specify what was in the plan.
A fatal attack on an elementary student in a school restroom on Friday last week has drawn attention to Taipei’s cancelation of the child protection plan as part of a reduction of “superfluous” duties for police officers.
Photo: CNA
The Taipei Police Department yesterday said that the plan canceled in March referred to traffic direction at elementary-school entrances.
Mandatory execution of such directions was canceled by the National Police Administration in 2012, with Taipei “canceling only the name” as part of a March reorganization of police duties, the police department added.
Patrols around campuses had not been affected, it said.
Ko added that semantics should not detract from efforts to improve school safety.
“Do not get caught up in explaining words; what is important is school safety and how to make students and parents feel safe,” Ko said.
He brushed off questions over the accuracy of previous conflicting statements on the “revival” of the plan, saying it was not reasonable to expect the mayor to know every policy detail, while reiterating that the city would review new safety measures after a month.
Ko’s remarks came as Taipei City Councilor Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) accused the Taipei Police Department of making misleading statements about the cancelation of the child protection plan in March.
While Taipei Police Department Commissioner Chiu Feng-kuang (邱豐光) said a child protection plan had not been canceled amid efforts to reduce unnecessary police duties, city government meeting records and the police department’s press releases showed that a child protection plan was canceled, she said.
She accused Chiu of “speaking nonsense,” while demanding that the plan be immediately reinstated in full, rather than on a temporary basis as Ko said.
Separately, Minister of the Interior Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) dismissed Chin’s claims about the child protection plan being canceled by the central government.
He said that there have been two policies that reporters dubbed a “child protection plan,” which might have resulted in confusion.
The first policy was a joint effort between his ministry and the Ministry of Education called “Caring Corridors Service Stations,” which aimed to increase traffic safety for children traveling to school. The plan was implemented in 2008, but terminated in 2012, Chen said.
However, a second policy, the “Police Agencies Execution Plan to Safeguard Campus Security,” has been in place since its launch in 2007. Under the plan, police patrols near schools have been increased, while communication channels have also been established between schools and local police authorities, Chen said.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
RSS