Taipei police yesterday detained members of the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) for brandishing a weapon and breaching assembly regulations at a rally outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, during which CUPP Chairman Chang An-le (張安樂) stumbled and fell on a prop coffin.
Chang, a former leader of the Bamboo Union gang, led a CUPP contingent to the legislature’s front entrance in the morning to protest remarks by Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) that in the event of an attack by China, he would never surrender, but would protect the nation by fighting to the end, even if he only had a broom.
Chang, who is also known as the “White Wolf,” had party members transport a wooden casket on a small truck that they intended to give to Su, who they said should not call for resistance to a Chinese military invasion, because that would result in many Taiwanese fatalities.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
Amid a cordon of police to counter the protest, Chang stood on the truck and ordered that the casket be unloaded. Several police officers tried to block the unloading, resulting in the casket falling sideways, with its lid open, onto the grass of a lane divider on the boulevard in front of the legislature.
With media covering the protest and crowds watching, Chang tripped and stumbled as he stepped off the truck and fell on top of the casket.
One CUPP member quickly grabbed Chang to prevent him from tumbling into the open coffin, while an assistant, thinking that Chang had been hurt, repeatedly shouted: “Protect the chairman!”
Chang was then helped to his feet by two assistants.
However, throughout the incident the protesters were prevented entry to the legislature and police confiscated the casket after loading it back onto the truck.
Chang later argued with a police captain over the casket, saying: “What right do you have to confiscate my coffin?”
“You have forcibly seized my property. Give back my coffin ... unless you will give it to Su Tseng-chang,” he said.
“I want my coffin back... Otherwise, I can give it to you as a gift,” he added.
Police said they arrested a CUPP member surnamed Peng (彭) after he brandished a 25cm knife in an altercation with officers during the protest and another member, surnamed Ho (何), for creating a disturbance.
Authorities said they plan to charge Chang over the rally, as he did not apply for a public assembly permit, failed to disperse the group after receiving three warnings and contravened the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法).
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
‘SALAMI-SLICING’: Beijing’s ‘gray zone’ tactics around the Pratas Islands have been slowly intensifying, with the PLA testing Taiwan’s responses and limits, an expert said The Ministry of National Defense yesterday condemned an intrusion by a Chinese drone into the airspace of the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) as a serious disruption of regional peace. The ministry said it detected the Chinese surveillance and reconnaissance drone entering the southwestern parts of Taiwan’s air defense identification zone early yesterday, and it approached the Pratas Islands at 5:41am. The ministry said it immediately notified the garrison stationed in the area to enhance aerial surveillance and alert levels, and the drone was detected in the islands’ territorial airspace at 5:44am, maintaining an altitude outside the effective range of air-defense weaponry. Following
RSS