The Taipei International Comics and Animation Festival this year has banned realistic replica guns, gas masks and other face coverings following the Taipei MRT mass stabbing last month, official guidelines showed.
This year’s festival is slated to take place from Feb. 5 to Feb. 9 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.
REFUSING ENTRY
Photo courtesy of the police
The organizers said that the festival reserves the right to refuse entry to participants wearing costumes or replica weapons that evoke associations with terrorism, could cause harm or panic, or obscure the identity of the wearer.
Banned items include gas masks and respirators, helmets, guns, swords and knives, they said, adding that excessively large props must be disassembled during transport to minimize potential risks to public safety.
The guidelines also bar attendees from nudity, bearing their undergarments or otherwise engaging in indecent displays.
FEELING SAFE
The new rules have been implemented to ensure that participants would feel safe to enjoy the festival after the Dec. 19 MRT attack, the organizers said.
The festival’s announcement also came three days after police arrested a woman dressed in tactical gear and a mask of Ghost, a character from the popular video game franchise Call of Duty for allegedly “alarming the public.”
Police have recommended that the Hualien District Prosecutors’ Office fine the woman for breaching the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), the Hualien County Police Bureau said in a statement.
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