Taipei police yesterday detained democracy advocate Wuer Kaixi on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). He was released after questioning at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
Wuer Kaixi could face charges of offenses against public safety after he was stopped while riding a scooter and testing showed that his blood alcohol level was 0.4 milligrams per liter (mg/L), exceeding the legal limit of 0.15mg/L, Ruian Street Police Station chief Huang Chien-chang (黃建彰) said.
Officers saw a scooter being driven erratically along Heping W Road at about 1:30am, he said.
Photo: CNA
They followed it for a while before flagging down the driver, he said.
“We took him in as a DUI case, as the suspect exceeded the legal limit for alcohol,” he said.
Wuer Kaixi was with friends on Saturday night at a bar, where they drank beer, police quoted him as saying.
He decided to drive to his New Taipei City home, because he believed he was still clear-minded enough to handle the trip, they quoted him as saying.
“I admit what I did was wrong, and I cooperated with the police procedures,” Wuer Kaixi told reporters after his release.
Police confiscated his scooter as part of the DUI investigation and transferred him to the prosecutors’ office.
After questioning, prosecutors released him, as there was no accident and the suspect had admitted to wrongdoing, the office said.
Wuer Kaixi was a prominent Uighur student leader in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing and fled China after the June 4 massacre.
Wanted by the Chinese government for his part in the protest movement, he was helped by underground networks to reach France.
He came to Taiwan in 1996.
He married a Taiwanese and has been given Republic of China citizenship.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS