A Taichung City policeman was penalized yesterday for using pepper spray on two protesters on Sunday night, but the police said his demerit was for carrying non-standard equipment rather than for assaulting the protesters, adding that he acted in self-defense.
Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) apologized for the incident and promised to look into the matter.
Hu has pledged to step down if any civilians are injured because of police misconduct under his watch.
The Taichung City Police Bureau said police officer Sung Kuo-tong (宋國棟) was part of a detail dispatched to disperse a crowd of pro-independence supporters protesting the fourth round of cross-strait talks after a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) rally ended on Sunday night.
The protesters, led by Taiwan Association of University Professors chairman Tsai Ting-kuei (蔡丁貴), reportedly attempted to barge into the fenced-off area around the Winsdor Hotel where the Chinese delegation is staying during its five-day visit.
A physical altercation occurred when police tried to disperse the crowd, a police press release said, adding that fourth precinct deputy chief Lu Chin-lung (盧進隆) was hit in the neck by a protester’s placard during the scuffle.
The statement said that Sung, a self-defense instructor, was trying protect his superior and himself when he used the pepper spray on the protesters.
The two people, one of whom was Tsai’s wife, sustained minor eye injuries and were released from hospital after treatment.
The police agreed that Sung was in the wrong for carrying pepper spray, which is not standard police equipment, but said his actions were in self-defense.
Sung was penalized for carrying non-standard equipment and has been removed from the assignment.
The DPP yesterday offered free legal assistance to the two individuals if they choose to sue over the incident.
DPP Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全), who is heading the DPP’s ad-hoc emergency response center, advised all protesters to carry a cellphone or video-recording device at all times to collect evidence on any provocative actions of the part of the police.
“Taiwan is a free democratic country with freedom of speech being the most important value. All people are entitled to speak freely. The police have zero excuse to shortchange the people’s right to express themselves,” Su said.
China has reserved offshore airspace in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from March 27 to May 6, issuing alerts usually used to warn of military exercises, although no such exercises have been announced, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported yesterday. Reserving such a large area for 40 days without explanation is an “unusual step,” as military exercises normally only last a few days, the paper said. These alerts, known as Notice to Air Missions (Notams), “are intended to inform pilots and aviation authorities of temporary airspace hazards or restrictions,” the article said. The airspace reserved in the alert is
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
More than 6,000 Taiwanese students have participated in exchange programs in China over the past two years, despite the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) “orange light” travel advisory, government records showed. The MAC’s publicly available registry showed that Taiwanese college and university students who went on exchange programs across the Strait numbered 3,592 and 2,966 people respectively. The National Immigration Agency data revealed that 2,296 and 2,551 Chinese students visited Taiwan for study in the same two years. A review of the Web sites of publicly-run universities and colleges showed that Taiwanese higher education institutions continued to recruit students for Chinese educational programs without
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
RSS