A total of 41 armed officers from the National Police Agency’s elite Wei-An Special Police Commando unit arrived in Taichung City yesterday afternoon to help maintain public order following a recent spate of serious crimes in the city.
This was the fifth time since 1999 that the unit was deployed to Taichung.
“We have the necessary gear and are confident we can do something for the city,” said Huang Shih-fu (黃世富), deputy lieutenant for the team, which is expected to be posted in the city for the next two months.
PHOTO: LIAO HUI-TUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
The deployment came in the wake of a series of violent crimes in Taichung.
One such case occurred on Friday afternoon, when gang leader Weng Chi-nan (翁奇楠) died in a hail of bullets.
While the public was shocked by the incident, an equally shocking fact came to light on Tuesday — four police officers witnessed the execution-style killing and did nothing.
Two senior officers — Taichung City Police Traffic Chief Lin Chi-you (林啟右) and the Criminal Investigation Corps’ Third Division head Lin Wen-wu (林文武) — have been removed from their leadership posts and received a demerit.
The two lower-ranking officers — Shih Chang-hsing (石長興) and Sergeant Tai Chih-hung (戴志宏) — were given warnings as they were reportedly driving their superiors to the gang leader’s office.
Shih sustained an injury to one of his toes in the shooting.
Retired Taichung police officer Chen Wen-hsiung (陳文雄) yesterday said he was the one who invited the four to meet at Weng’s office, but denied allegations that he was working for Weng or that he was gambling at the scene when the crime occurred.
“That is a malicious lie,” he said. “I will consider filing a slander suit against people who accuse me of what I have not done.”
“I witnessed the entire crime, so I will definitely work with prosecutors for any future investigation,” he said.
Chen said that at the time of the incident, Lin Chi-you and Lin Wen-wu were sitting inside a room with him while Shih and Tai were waiting in the living room.
The remarks, however, contradicted Taichung City Police Commissioner Hu Mu-yuan (胡木源), who said Shih and Tai remained in their vehicle outside the office when the crime occurred, while Lin Chi-you and Lin Wen-wu were inside the office “hiding from bullets.”
The case ignited a public outcry, as the officers at the scene were believed to have been connected to gangsters.
Chen yesterday said the four officers did not intervene because they were off-duty that day and that as they did not carry weapons at the time, they hid while the assailant was firing his gun.
Commenting on the case yesterday, DPP Secretary-General Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) — the DPP mayoral candidate for Greater Taichung — said that while Taichung City Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) had political responsibility for the incident, it would not be proper to blame him for the entire affair.
In Taipei, Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and National Police Agency Director-General Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞) yesterday apologized for the apparent deterioration of public safety and pledged to do their best to improve social order, including fully mobilizing police forces to root out illegal firearms and violent crimes.
Both governing and opposition party lawmakers yesterday asked Hu Mu-yuan to step down, but Wang said he was not considering letting him go at the moment.
Additional reporting by Vincent Y. Chao and Ko Shu-ling
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
DETERRENCE: Along with US$500 million in military aid and up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees, the bill would allocate US$400 million to countering PRC influence The US House of Representatives on Friday approved an appropriations bill for fiscal year 2025 that includes US$500 million in military aid for Taiwan. The legislation, which authorizes funding for the US Department of State, US foreign operations and related programs for next year, passed 212-200 in the Republican-led House. The bill stipulates that the US would provide no less than US$500 million in foreign military financing for Taiwan to enhance deterrence across the Taiwan Strait, and offer Taipei up to US$2 billion in loans and loan guarantees for the same purpose. The funding would be made available under the US’ Foreign Military