Taiwan Nation Office director Chilly Chen (陳峻涵) was detained by police yesterday for throwing plastic slippers at Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) during a fire inspection at the Taipei Railway Station.
Chen said in his affidavit that his actions “were a reminder for Ko not to run his mouth.”
Ko’s comment that “if we do not have sufficient power to back up our claims [to restrain China’s expansion], then we should not [make such claims]” directly contradicts President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) comments and could cause the nation’s claims to be seen as a joke, Chen said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Tsai called on nations of the world to “restrain China’s expansion” in an interview with Agence France Presse published on Monday.
Chen also said that he did not intend to harm Ko, or else he would have used rocks or a mallet instead of plastic slippers.
Chen attempted to throw two red plastic slippers at Ko while shouting: “Don’t walk the same path as the Chinese communists,” police said.
Photo provided by police
He missed Ko with the slippers, hitting his security unit instead, police said.
When asked if police officers’ handling of the issue was sufficient, Ko said that it was acceptable, adding that he is used to such incidents and continued the inspection.
Chen is to be charged with obstruction of official affairs under the Criminal Code and contravention of the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), police said.
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