Anxious to avoid a repeat of last week's turmoil at CKS International Airport, police last night deployed 3,000 officers in a successful bid to prevent protesters from occupying the airport as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) returned from China.
Protesters who tried to sneak into the airport were taken away, including several pan-green camp legislators and a number of unidentified people in black clothes suspected to be gangsters supportive of the pan-blue camp.
There were sporadic tussles at the airport and on the freeway leading to the airport where police stopped motorists who attempted to protest Lien's return. No major injuries were reported.
PHOTO: AP
A failed independent legislative candidate was arrested on arrival at the terminal for allegedly threatening the peace.
"I didn't break the law," Ke Tze-hai (
Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan (
Four prosecutors were also on hand to issue arrest warrants for any person who protested inside the airport.
Barbed-wire barricades were erected on roads leading to the airport and vehicles were checked by police to prevent protesters from reaching the terminal. Police also guarded Lien's residence and KMT headquarters in Taipei.
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday called on around 100 party members to support lawmakers who wore masks bearing the words "protest" and "Lien sells out Taiwan." Their attempt to stage a sit-in inside the terminal was blocked by the police.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Lin Kuo-ching (
As they were led away, the legislators shouted, "The police are being unfair! We have broken no laws!"
DPP Legislator Wang Shih-chien (王世堅), who was heavily involved in last week's protest, was stopped on the Nankan Interchange long before reaching the airport and argued with police. Wang continued to the airport, however, and protested the detention of his colleagues.
Several unidentified people in black clothing carrying batons attempted to enter the airport and were detained.
Lien was received at the airport by Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (
In a short statement, Lien recounted the highlights of his trip but did not reveal any new details on his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
Lien said he would make details of his trip known over the next few days. He concluded his brief statement with a reminder to support the KMT in the National Assembly elections on May 14.
Lien then returned to his home without incident under an escort of more than 500 police.
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —