Premier Lin Chuan (林全) yesterday condemned violence against local government heads and lawmakers allegedly committed by opponents of pension reform proposals, calling on the National Police Agency to expedite an investigation into the incidents.
Lin made the comments during a Cabinet meeting amid complaints from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that police officers did not properly enforce the law when hundreds of demonstrators protesting pension reforms resorted to violence against them outside the legislature in Taipei on Wednesday in an attempt to disrupt a planned legislative review of the government’s proposals.
The use of violence by protesters disrupted the functioning of the nation’s democratic institutions, Lin said, pledging to work toward creating clearer and more effective guidelines for law enforcement officials.
Photo: copied by Wang Kuan-jen, Taipei Times
Continued delays of the government’s pension reforms would lead to substantial setbacks for societal and national development, he said.
Lin said the pension reforms aim to create a sustainable civil servants’ pension fund and redistribute the financial burden of future generations more fairly.
It is inevitable that an issue so close to the personal interests of many people would lead to protests and, in a democratic society, certain liberties are granted for people to express themselves, but they “must not transgress relevant national systems or the bounds of law enforcement,” Lin said.
Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said the Executive Yuan is to take responsibility for investigating the alleged violent incidents, including those against Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦).
“The Executive Yuan expresses its profound sadness at the events that transpired yesterday and unequivocally condemns the acts of violence. We hope protesters will express their demands rationally, and stop hindering lawmakers and officials from conducting official business in the legislature,” Hsu said.
Meanwhile, police have so far confirmed 15 separate alleged incidents of protesters breaking the law and 26 alleged perpetrators from video footage of the protests, the Taipei Police Department said.
A total of 13 individuals had been identified as of press time last night and they were to be questioned, the department said, adding that Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Ding-yu (王定宇) pressed charges earlier yesterday and SET-TV (三立電視) said it would also press charges for damage to one of its outside broadcast vans.
Among the list of identified suspects were Taipei Metro Union executive member Wang Yu-wen (王裕文), who was alleged to have struck DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) with his elbow.
Peng Ke-ying (彭克英), a member of the Pension Reform Oversight Alliance, allegedly attacked Cheng, Wang Ding-yu, New Power Party Legislator Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) and Minister of Civil Service Chou Hung-hsien (周弘憲).
One military veteran was arrested on Wednesday for smashing the windshield of the SET-TV van with a hammer, police said.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
RSS