Members of the Northern Taiwan Society were outraged by claims that plainclothes police outside the National Palace Museum used intimidating tactics during a visit by Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) on Monday.
Northern Taiwan Society director Lin Kuan-miao (林冠妙) said plainclothes police manhandled her during a scuffle outside the museum, adding that the organization’s secretary-general, Lee Chuan-hsin (李川信), heard one admit to being a former gangster.
A large number of police officers wore civilian clothes to maintain a low profile, but several allegedly got involved in scuffles with protesters.
PHOTO: LU CHUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
BLENDING IN
Lee said he suspected the police wore civilian clothes so observers would believe they were just members of the public.
Lee said one individual he believed to be a plainclothes policeman denied this when questioned.
Lin said after entering the museum at about 4pm, she soon found herself surrounded by five or six plainclothes police. When Chen and his entourage emerged from the museum, Lin shouted at the Chinese envoy to go back to China. At that point, she said, one tall, burly police officer instructed others to silence her.
A policewoman covered Lin’s mouth to prevent her from continuing her protest, she said.
AGAINST HER WILL
Lin said this same burly policeman used his weight to shove her, before calling on his colleagues to grab her. The group then manhandled her, dragging her 20m to 30m in the direction of the main gates, she said. They only released her when a volunteer working for the society, who recognized one of the police officers, approached them.
Lin said she had not been holding any banner or poster when the police accosted her, adding that their behavior during the incident, including the physical force used and the attempt to silence her, amounted to restricting a member of the public’s right to express their opinion.
EX-MOBSTER
Lee said he had overheard one of the plainclothes police -officers near the main gates of the museum warning two students who had come to call on China to release jailed dissident writer and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) that they should leave, as “things are going to get violent in a while.”
Lee questioned the police oficer’s use of intimidation against the students, asking the man why he was behaving like a gangster. At that point, Lee said, the officer told him it was because he used to be a gangster. Lee said he wasn’t sure how to respond upon hearing that.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
RSS