Following a drunken roadside brawl on Monday morning in which two police officers were injured, the Taipei City Government yesterday announced its determination to take legal action against the perpetrators.
Among the suspects is a famous television producer who tried to get away with the assault by seeking help from influential political figures.
PHOTO: CHU YU-PING, TAIPEI TIMES
"The city government is determined to crack down on driving under the influence of alcohol [DUI], and we will not permit challenges against our law enforcement officers and encroachment on civil rights," Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said at the City Hall yesterday afternoon.
Ma added that he has requested Wang Cho-chun (
The investigation, Ma said, will focus on identifying whether anyone tried to interfere with the execution of the officers' duties by using threats or influence-peddling.
"I don't care how high up those people are and who they are. We're determined to discover the truth and make it public," he said.
Handed over to prosecutors for further investigation yesterday were television producer Teng Yu-kun (鄧育昆), who allegedly hit one of the police officers, and Chou Chi-wu (周齊吾), who was driving under the influence of alcohol and who allegedly has close connections with crime syndicates. Though Teng had initially been released by police on the night of the incident, he was again taken into custody following the mayor's announcement.
The incident took place in the early hours of Monday morning after Chou's car was stopped by two police officers -- Tseng Chien-ping (
At a press conference held by New Party City Councilor Chung Hsiao-ping (
Teng then joined the fray, as did four others who got out of two other vehicles. During the assault, Teng allegedly slapped Tseng around the face.
During the turmoil, Tseng said, Teng made phone calls via his cellphone to seek help from high-ranking government officials, including police officers and lawmakers, in an attempt to have them pedal their influence in the matter.
To protect himself from attack and to intimidate the gang, Tseng said he pulled out his gun and radioed for help.
After questioning at the police precinct, Chou was handed over to prosecutors for endangering public safety. Chou's blood-alcohol level was recorded as 66mg/ml. The legal limit is set at 25mg/ml, but the common standard adopted by police is 55mg/ml.
Teng, on the other hand, was freed, because Tseng's supervisors concluded that the Tseng had not in fact been physically injured.
Teng's release apparently led to the displeasure of Tseng and his colleagues, who claimed that the supervising officer had bowed to pressure from senior police officials and tried to play down the issue.
It was speculated that Ma Yong-cheng (
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
RSS