Admitting he had pushed a police officer during a clash on Wednesday that led to the latter being injured, Liu Ching-cheng (劉慶澄) said he had asked Democratic Progressive Party official Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) to pass on his regards to the police officer on his behalf.
Liu was among six protesters from the pro-independence “908 Taiwan Republic” campaign who were detained and questioned on suspicion of public endangerment, obstruction of justice and assault.
All six were released on Thursday, with Liu on bail of NT$100,000 and Chou Ming-wen (周明文), a Christian pastor, on bail of NT$20,000.
FIREWORKS
TV footage of the incident showed what looked like Chen Chu-hsiang (陳諸想), a captain from the Taichung City Second Precinct, being pushed from the group’s protest truck on Wednesday night as he tried to stop the demonstrators setting off fireworks in the direction of the hotel where Chinese envoy Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) was staying.
Chen sustained lacerations to his face and minor head injuries. He is a distant cousin of Lin.
Liu said he hoped Chen would recover soon, adding that he would visit the police officer after his release on bail.
Liu said he acted as he did because when a group of police boarded the truck, an officer choked him. After freeing himself, he automatically pushed in self-defense when he was approached by Chen.
Liu said he did not think at that moment that Chen would fall off the truck and be injured.
Prosecutors said the protesters had only breached administrative law by letting off fireworks. The prosecutors did not comment on whether the police had used excessive force in carrying out their duties.
Chou said Chen should have been more careful when climbing onto the truck, adding that the police didn’t need to act as they had.
DANGEROUS
Chou said the police should have followed standard procedure when trying to stop them, adding that it was wrong, extremely dangerous and unnecessary for the police to have jumped on a moving truck from all directions and to allegedly start kicking and choking people.
Taichung police yesterday denied using excessive force, saying officers only acted to stop the protesters after they ignored a verbal warning.
Meanwhile, Taichung’s Cheng Ching Hospital said yesterday that Chen was in a stable condition.
He would remain under observation before an assessment on whether he could be transferred to a regular ward today, the hospital said.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
RSS