Facing more questions over a cross-strait concert on Sunday that ended early due to a protest that ended in violence, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday said the Taipei City Government did its duty properly, but cannot avoid criticism from people who have particular political intentions.
“Sing! China: Shanghai-Taipei Music Festival,” promoted by the Taipei and Shanghai municipal governments, began as scheduled at 2pm on Sunday at National Taiwan University’s athletics field, but was abruptly ended at 4pm due to protests.
The demonstrators consisted of students who claimed their right to use the venue was violated for a week and pro-Taiwan independence groups protesting the venue having been renamed “Taipei City Taiwan University” by organizers on posters and tickets, which they said was part of China’s “united front” tactics.
Three students were allegedly injured by a pro-unification group’s members outside the venue as the crowd dispersed.
After a meeting yesterday morning, Ko told reporters that “in regards to standard operating procedures, neither the Taipei Police Department nor the Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs has done anything wrong.”
The cultural department had asked organizers to change “Taipei City Taiwan University” on the posters and tickets, which is just the type of action the department is responsible for, he said.
“If it [the original design circulating on the Internet] is used to discredit us as being pro-China in order to achieve political goals, then we cannot do anything about it,” Ko said. “The public should be smart enough to understand.”
Police respected the principle of university autonomy, he said, but added that in the future, if intelligence indicates the possibility of protests at major events, the police department and the Ministry of Education should develop a communication mechanism.
The festival was created through a memorandum of understanding on cultural exchanges signed with the Shanghai municipal government in 2010, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) said on a political talk show, adding that Ko should not shift the blame for the incident, as all 21 concerts organized under the agreement have been held over the past three years, after he became mayor.
In response to Ko’s remark on Monday that Taiwanese “need not be afraid of germs [China’s ‘united front’ tactics] if we have a strong immune system,” DPP Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) yesterday in a radio interview called Ko the “biggest germ” and said: “Do parents give their children sewage water and say: ‘You will be all right as long as you have a good immune system?”
Asked whether he felt he was being smeared as being pro-China, Ko said: “The pan-green and pan-blue political ideologies should not interfere with or obstruct the nation’s development. That is wrong.”
“Things should not be exaggerated. It is way out of line to call me a member of the Chinese Community Party,” he added. “Why are they so earnestly smearing me as pro-China now?”
Asked whether he feels the DPP is intentionally discrediting him, Ko said: “Everyone knows very well in their hearts, so I am not going to debate it today.”
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
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
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
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as