Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said there was room for improvement in the handling of a music event at National Taiwan University that drew protests and ended in violence, but added that he cannot accept people calling him a partner in China’s “united front.”
The “Sing! China: Shanghai-Taipei Music Festival” was a result of memorandums of understanding on cultural and arts events signed by Taipei and Shanghai in 2010 and 2014 respectively.
It was scheduled to run for eight hours on Sept. 24 at the university’s athletic field, but was canceled after two hours, following protests by students and pro-Taiwanese independence groups.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
As the crowd dispersed, three students were allegedly injured off-campus by members of a pro-unification group.
In an ad hoc session to discuss the case at Taipei City Hall yesterday, Ko said that according to standard operating procedures, there was no negligence by the city government, but added that there was room for improvement.
The city government’s “low political sensitivity” and the deployment of police need improvement, he said.
Owing to the principle of university autonomy, police cannot be deployed on campuses, but the police station head and the officer who received calls about the violence failed to confirm that the incident took place off-campus, which caused delay in dealing with the situation, Ko said, adding that they have both been punished.
“Taiwan has freedom of speech, but not the freedom of hitting people,” Ko said, adding that while the suspects have been turned over to the court for prosecution, discussion is needed on whether the police can deploy officers on campuses during large protests.
As some protesters said the city government had yielded to China’s united front tactics by agreeing to hold the show, Ko said that “criticizing the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Ko Wen-je as partners of communists who cooperate with their united front tactics is something that we cannot accept.”
Meanwhile, Ko said the city’s Construction Management Office should add “completion report date” and “examination date” columns on the temporary construction permit registration form to avoid the safety problems associated with illegal construction.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese