Premier Lin Chuan (林全) yesterday urged Taipei’s Zhongzheng First Police Precinct officers to abide by the legal procedures and do their best to avoid causing harm when supervising demonstrations.
Minister of the Interior Yeh Jiunn-rong (葉俊榮) and National Police Agency Director-General Chen Kuo-en (陳國恩) accompanied Lin as he greeted the officers, making him the first premier to visit the precinct in charge of securing the nation’s top government institutions, including the Executive Yuan, the Legislative Yuan and the Presidential Office Building, in 40 years.
“The reason the government exists is to protect the people’s lives and property, and ensure social stability, as well as human rights,” Lin said. “When enforcing the law, officers [should remember] those who are on the opposite side are also citizens. It might not be easy to balance and that is why discipline and training are important for police officers.”
Lin said it can be more difficult to enforce the law when supervising demonstrations, which Zhongzheng First Police Precinct officers often have to do.
Lin reminded officers that when facing demonstrators, they should try to reduce any use of force.
“To prevent causing controversy, law enforcement measures must be in accordance with disciplinary regulations and relevant laws,” Lin said, adding that when police act strictly in accordance with the law, the government would support officers if they come under scrutiny for their handling of demonstrations.
Lin denied the visit was to quell discontent among some officers after the Executive Yuan wdropped the lawsuits against 126 protestors who broke into and briefly occupied the Executive Yuan in 2014.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard