The Kaohsiung City Council yesterday morning decided to adjourn in protest of the violence directed at Council Speaker Huang Chi-chuan (
City councilors also prayed for Huang's speedy recovery and visited him at Kaohsiung Municipal Ta-Tung Hospital, where the speaker is receiving medical treatment after being beaten up by a number of demonstrators outside the city council chamber the day before.
Later, deputy speaker Tsai Sung-shyong (蔡松雄), along with eight city councilors, visited Prosecutor-General of Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office Chu Nan (朱楠) to demand that the city's law enforcement officers bring the offenders to justice.
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
"Kaohsiung City Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) has tolerated violence in the city for far too long," Tsai commented. "Conflicts haven't stopped since Hsieh took office," he added.
On Thursday, a group of DPP and TSU supporters gathered at the square in front of the council hall to protest the city council's decision to scrap the city's Department of Information.
When preparing to enter the council chamber to chair a meeting, Huang tried to shake hands with some of the protesters to show his goodwill. But the protesters rebuffed him and called him "garbage." They then started to kick him and beat him on live TV. Some of them also attacked the cameramen for filming the disturbance.
When the fight subsided, Huang entered the council chamber but was taken to the hospital by other councilors when he began to experience discomfort.
"Since the protest was officially approved by the city government, I demand that the mayor take responsibility for the violence," Huang said at the hospital.
According to Hsu Po-jen (許博仁), head of the surgical department at the hospital, Huang has a medical history of high blood pressure, and his blood pressure has risen after the assault. But the doctor said that Huang is now in stable condition, and that he should be discharged from the hospital in 48 hours.
Meanwhile, local police said that the protesters were led by some DPP candidates for the year-end city councilor elections. Police have already detained a 51-year-old woman, Lee Mei-tsu (李美足), who has admitted to beating the speaker. They are still searching for six other suspects.
Before the violence, Huang was scheduled to announce his bid for the city's mayoral seat and was to register in the KMT's primary today. However, Huang said yesterday that he would ask his assistant to register for him and would not go to the party's Kaohsiung chapter in person.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS