The Taipei Police Department yesterday said it would increase security measures at the Taipei Summer Universiade closing ceremony tomorrow night to ensure the safety of athletes and other participants.
A total of 29,411 security personnel have been deployed at 379 events since the Games started, and about 6,000 police officers are to be deployed at the closing ceremony to maintain a safe environment, Taipei Police Deputy Commissioner Lin Shun-chia (林順家) said.
The department has divided the Taipei Municipal Stadium and surrounding areas into seven zones and appointed the chiefs of seven police precincts to oversee each zone tomorrow, he said.
Photo: Wang Guan-ren, Taipei Times
“If anyone intentionally tries to disturb the event through illegal or disorderly conduct, the police chiefs will strictly enforce the law and arrest them if needed,” he added.
Additional fences will be set up on the sidewalks around the stadium to expand the controlled zones, and seven additional security screening points will be set up farther from the stadium to ensure that people who enter these zones have valid identification cards and tickets, and are not carrying any prohibited items.
The additional security screening points are to be set up on the sidewalks along Dunhua N Road, Nanjing E Road, Bade Road and Beining Road, and ticket and identification examinations are to begin at 3pm, the department said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Prohibited items include smoke bombs, whistles, air horns, laser pointers, flags larger than 2m in length and 1m in width, racist and religious propaganda items, and other banned items listed on the Universiade Web site, it said.
A safety buffer zone will be established between different passages so that the audience cannot approach the athletes and special guests, he added.
A few civic groups have expressed their intention to hold a demonstration at the closing ceremony, and the police department has talked to them, urging them to stay within two designated areas for “expressing public opinions” outside the venue.
Barred barricades will not erected at the closing ceremony, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said during a visit to Songshan Precinct yesterday morning.
No group has applied for an assembly and parade permit to hold a demonstration at the closing ceremony, Ko said, adding that police would strictly enforce the law if anyone holds a rally without a permit.
In related news, with the national team achieving outstanding results at the Universiade, the Presidential Office said it would hold a victory parade for the athletes on Thursday.
Arrangements are being made for the athletes to meet President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Thursday afternoon, and the parade will start from Ketagalan Boulevard and end at Taipei City Hall’s Civic Plaza.
Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang (黃重諺) said that Universiade-related units on Friday had discussed what they could do for the national team other than the customary arrangement of meeting with the president after the Games.
One of the participants at the meeting suggested a victory parade, citing as examples how the Japanese national team to the Rio Olympics last year was welcomed by a victory parade in Tokyo and the New York Yankees was widely cheered in a similar parade after it won the World Series Championship, Huang said.
The parade is to be organized by the Sports Administration and the Taipei City Government, assisted by the General Association of Chinese Culture, Hung said, adding that the details of the parade will be announced today.
Additional reporting by Chung Li-hua
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