Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (
Lee slammed Ma in a ministry press release for having allowed anti-Chen protesters to demonstrate at the station day and night since Saturday, saying that the station was the city's premier transportation hub and consequently unsuitable for an around-the-clock protest.
Ma risked the safety of Taipei residents by allowing such a protest to take place at a busy transit point, Lee said, adding that travelers whose political opinions differed from those of protesters were being accosted.
A Taipei City Government spokeswoman at the Department of Information refused to comment on Lee's criticism of the mayor.
"We need to get confirmation of Mayor Ma's position before we can say anything," she said, identifying herself merely as "Ms. Wu" (
She added that she didn't know when or if the mayor would respond to Lee's comments.
Making room
According to a press release issued by the Taipei City Government on Sunday, Ma said that he had agreed to move the anti-Chen protest from Ketagalan Boulevard to the railway station to make room for pro-Chen supporters who have protested on the boulevard since Saturday. In order to separate the two groups of protesters, Ma had no choice but to allow the anti-Chen protesters to move to the station, the release said.
Chen Feng-nan (陳峰男), deputy director of the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA), said on Thursday that the Taipei Railway Station was "not a place for protests."
Chen and Railway Police Bureau Deputy Director Lee Chen-kuang (
However, numerous protesters have been sleeping and protesting in the station, according to local media.
"It's actually okay if [the protesters] rest [in the station] at night," Chen told the Taipei Times yesterday, adding that some protesters may have shouted slogans "once or twice," but hadn't interfered with railway operations.
`Just too many'
"There are just too many [protesters], and you can't force them [to leave]," administration spokesman Teng Chia-chi (
Lee Chen-kuang told the Taipei Times that protesters in the station are often travelers, too.
Exceptions need to be made as long as safety and order are not compromised, he added.
Both Chen Feng-nan and Lee Chen-kuang said that protests haven't interfered with railway operations, and that the trains were running smoothly.
Regarding recent altercations between the pro-Chen and anti-Chen camps at the protests, Lee Yi-yang said in the ministry statement that unlawful behavior would not be tolerated.
"Since the anti-Chen sit-in began, anti-Chen protesters have turned over cars and motorbikes," Lee Yi-yang is quoted as saying in the release. He added that pro-Chen protesters had sabotaged the broadcast booths of CtiTV and the Eastern Broadcasting Company at their demonstration.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Shih-chien (王世堅) was shown on local television escorting a CtiTV anchorman on Saturday from Ketagalan Boulevard as pro-Chen protesters jostled the newscaster and overran his booth.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is