PFP Taipei City Councilor Wang Yu-chen (
"About a month ago, there was a case at the Cashbox KTV in Hsimenting where a group of foreigners clashed with a local citizen and even swore in Chinese. But when the police came, the foreigners pretended they did not speak Chinese and the police simply let them go," Wang told the council. "When the citizen complained to the police, the officers even warned the citizen against interfering with the police."
Wang said that, as he is from Tienmu, he knows foreigners from the area, and some of them show contempt for the local police and say they can always get off by speaking in English only.
"Do not let foreigners look down on our police officers," Wang said.
Wang tested precinct directors and corporation chiefs on their English ability, asking them to read out and translate sentences such as "Please sign your ticket," and "Do you have amphetamines or any illegal drugs on you?"
The directors and chiefs were able to answer the question correctly without much difficulty.
Wang showed satisfaction with the result, but asked Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Ma said that frontline officers were required to have basic English skills and that whenever a more complicated matter arises, foreign affairs police can be called in.
"When necessary, there are always foreign affairs police to deal with foreigners, and there is no way a foreigner can get away easily from the crime scene if he or she really causes any trouble," said Wang Cho-chun (
"We have a department specially devoted to foreign affairs, and in every precinct there are a couple of foreign affairs police who can assist with cases. There is not much difficulty in dealing with cases involving foreigners," Wang said.
Brian Kennedy, who is from the US and has had a couple of encounters with police, said local authorities "do not shy away from foreigners."
"I had the police knocking at the door a couple of times because the neighbor complained about the music. The officers were always nice and polite, and when they talked in Chinese, I replied in Chinese as well. But last time they came with this officer who spoke good English."
Another American man, who would only give his first name, David, said he was stopped by police a couple of times while driving. He said police would ask him in English nicely about whether he had been drinking or would ask to see his license.
STAY AWAY: An official said people should avoid disturbing snakes, as most do not actively attack humans, but would react defensively if threatened Taitung County authorities yesterday urged the public to stay vigilant and avoid disturbing snakes in the wild, following five reported snakebite cases in the county so far this year. Taitung County Fire Department secretary Lin Chien-cheng (林建誠) said two of the cases were in Donghe Township (東河) and involved the Taiwan habus, one person was bit by a Chinese pit viper near the South Link Railway and the remaining two were caused by unidentified snakes. He advised residents near fields to be cautious of snakes hiding in shady indoor areas, especially when entering or leaving their homes at night. In case of a
A tropical disturbance off the southeastern coast of the Philippines might become the first typhoon of the western Pacific typhoon season, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The system lacks a visible center and how it would develop is only likely to become clear on Sunday or Monday, the CWA said, adding that it was not yet possible to forecast the potential typhoon's effect on Taiwan. The American Meteorological Society defines a tropical disturbance as a system made up of showers and thunderstorms that lasts for at least 24 hours and does not have closed wind circulation.
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Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
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