Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) yesterday said he would not press charges against opponents of pension reform who allegedly broke two of his ribs, because of a belief in democratic politics.
Cheng said on Facebook that he never thought his injuries would attract so much attention.
“I was only there at the legislature on the day of the protest to try to secure a portion of the budget earmarked for the government’s Forward-looking Infrastructure Development Program for my city. It is regrettable that the protesters were so agitated ... that they tried to push people around and attack them,” Cheng said.
Photo: Shih Hsiao-kuang, Taipei Times
Cheng said he did not seek medical attention until Monday, when an examination found that his injuries were more serious than he imagined, requiring two to six weeks to heal.
Nevertheless, the mayor said he still believes in the values of democratic politics and is confident that society is capable of resolving conflicts through rational discussion.
“Therefore, I do not intend to press charges. I hope the public can calm down and use dialogue instead of violence,” Cheng said.
Cheng on Wednesday last week was on his way to a legislative joint committee meeting when he and other local government leaders and legislators were allegedly assaulted by people protesting the government’s plan to reform pension schemes for public servants and public-school teachers.
Taoyuan Department of Public Information Director Xavier Chang (張惇涵) on Monday said that the mayor sustained fractures of the seventh and eighth ribs on his right side.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) took to Facebook to call on National Civil Servant Association president Harry Lee (李來希), a protest leader, to explain what happened to Cheng.
At a news conference in Taipei, Lee said that opponents of pension reform who resorted to violence during the demonstrations last week were provoked by the legislature’s cruel installation of barb-wired barricades.
“The anti-reform protesters would not have lost control if they had not been painted into a corner,” Lee said.
“The core of the pension conundrum we see today is private-sector workers getting too little in pension payments, while not-yet-retired public servants get too much. Though [pension reform opponents’] actions were inappropriate and regrettable, who do you think caused them?” Lee said.
The nation has seen many protests over separate issues since President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration took office in May last year, so why is it that only pension reform demonstrators have been subjected to legal proceedings, Lee said.
He also lauded Cheng’s decision not to press charges.
The nation will be a better place if the kind of magnanimity demonstrated by Cheng could rub off on other politicians, Lee said.
Reform opponents are to stage another protest on May 20, the first anniversary of Tsai’s inauguration, he added.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Vice Chairman Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), a former Taipei mayor, who also attended the news conference, questioned the government’s description of protesters actions as “violent.”
“The unarmed civil servants, in an attempt to preserve their dignity and rights, only pulled on the clothing [of passing lawmakers and government officials] and threw water at them. Can this be called violence?” Hau said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai