Disregarding protests from the National Police Agency (NPA), Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (
Chou said Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) had called him three times on Wednesday night at the request of NPA Director Hou You-yi (侯友宜) in an attempt to dissuade him from making the promotions.
"If the central government still considers the promotions controversial, it is welcome to send the case to the Legislative Yuan for a vote," Chou said.
Of the 140 promoted officers, 122 will receive a NT$4,150 monthly raise with the remainder getting a NT$2,600 monthly raise.
"I will not budge on my decision to promote the officers in accordance with the laws," Chou said.
"If the central government refuses to negotiate with us, there will be more promotions in the near future," he said.
special municipality
Chou announced the promotions last Friday after the county government was formally upgraded to the status of special municipality on Oct. 1.
While Chou cited the Local Government Act (
Chou said the promotions were intended to boost morale ahead of the legislative elections in January and the presidential elections in March, when police officers would have to take on additional responsibilities.
"Promoting local officers also represents the county government's determination to improve public order ... We are willing to discuss the issue with the NPA to resolve the controversy," he said, while urging Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (
`invalid'
Hou said yesterday that Chou's promotions were invalid.
"Chou's promotions are invalid because they lack legal basis," Hou said when asked for comment outside the Home and Nations Committee meeting.
"Public servants should act according to the law, but [the] Taipei County [Government] is going against that principle now," Hou said. "[The promotions] are detrimental to the police force."
Hou added that he would continue to negotiate with the Taipei County Government for the sake of the police force.
Additional reporting by Loa Iok-sin
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
RSS