The Presidential Office yesterday urged protesters to express their opinions rationally in the wake of increasingly violent demonstrations against President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), after the legislature passed bills to cut the retirement benefits of civil servants and public-school teachers.
Presidential Office spokesman Sidney Lin (林鶴明) urged protesters to make their appeals in a peaceful way, adding that extreme actions would cause social disorder and lead to a heavy workload for police.
Protesters rallying against pension reforms have blocked Tsai’s motorcade and thrown bottles, stones and smoke grenades at event venues where she has been attending an event.
The unruly protests are a strain on police officers as they have to protect the president, the presidential office said.
In response to media reports that a police officer in Kaohsiung died in a motorcycle crash after finishing a shift protecting the president — for which Tsai drew another round of criticism for allegedly having the officer work overtime, Lin said the accusation is misleading.
The deceased officer was working a normal shift, and it is regrettable that some people are distorting facts to attack the president without recognizing how much pressure the riotous protests have put police under, Lin said.
Such rhetoric is malicious and disrespectful to the officer and his family, Lin said.
The Presidential Office wishes to extend its condolences to the deceased officer’s family, Lin said.
The off-duty officer, surnamed Lin (林), 45, died late on Thursday on his way home after the motorcycle he was riding hit a parked truck at about 7:30pm, the Gangshan District (岡山) Police Precinct said.
Lin worked a normal eight-hour shift from 8am to 4pm and his assignment on the contingent to protect the president ended at 2:30pm, the precinct said.
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