Bruised and battered from five days of protests that dogged Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) during his visit to Taiwan, the police and protesters yesterday tried to evaluate the number of people injured in the sometimes heated clashes.
The Taipei City Police Department said that 149 officers had been injured while policing the protests.
The department said supervisors were dispatched yesterday to various hospitals to express their sympathy to the injured officers and present them with fruit, drinks and gifts.
PHOTO: CNA
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said the party and its local branches were still counting injured protesters, and the number would be released in a few days.
He said many injured protesters were not taken to the hospital by police, so it was believed that any police tally of injuries would be inaccurate.
Police estimated that about 100 protesters were injured.
Meanwhile, the police said yesterday they had arrested 18 alleged ringleaders of the protests.
In related news, the Chinese-language Apple Daily yesterday reported that during the clashes in front of the Grand Formosa Regent Taipei Hotel on Wednesday night, National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Wang Cho-chun (王卓鈞) was so upset at Songshan Precinct Chief Huang Chia-lu’s (黃嘉祿) failure to control the protesters that he relieved Huang of his command.
Huang apparently asked officers not to use too much force, which led to the protest getting out of control. But a high-ranking NPA officer, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Taipei Times yesterday that Huang would not be punished.
“It was not his fault,” the officer said. “In a situation like that, it is always our priority to make sure that nobody gets hurt. That is the end goal.”
The officer also said that the clashes had come as surprise.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY RICH CHANG AND CNA
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their