As the presidential candidates canvass for votes on the streets by traveling in open-topped jeeps, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director Tsai Der-sheng (蔡得勝) yesterday said he has asked police to persuade people to only set off firecrackers before and after the candidates arrive to avoid startling them.
Tsai’s comments came after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was startled by supporters’ fire-crackers when canvassing in Yunlin on Saturday.
Setting off firecrackers is not illegal, Tsai Der-sheng said, and as such police would only resort to persuasion.
Photo: CNA
Tsai Der-sheng said the sound of firecrackers could cover the sound of a gunshot and interfere with the security of the candidates, adding that it would be best if firecrackers are not set off when the presidential candidates are present.
Tsai Der-sheng, who accompanied President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on a canvassing activity in Taoyuan County yesterday afternoon, said the bureau had dispatched four police motorcycles to follow the president’s fleet.
The security measures for the motorcade included three panes of bulletproof glass at the rear of the president’s car that were provided by the NSB.
In other news, New Taipei City (新北市) Government officials said late on Saturday that two men were barred from approaching Ma during a Christmas Eve gala in the city after they were discovered to be carrying BB guns.
One of the men was stopped from entering a control area where Ma was arriving for the charity gala after he was discovered to be carrying a BB gun and a bottle of BB pellets in his bag, officials said.
The other man was stopped by security guards when trying to enter the same control area near citizens square in Banqiao District (板橋) minutes later. He was also found to be carrying a BB gun and a bottle of pellets, officials said.
At the entrance to another control area, a mother and child were barred from entering after the boy was found to be carrying a toy gun.
The gala drew about 80,000 people, with about 200 police and security personnel standing by to protect Ma, who is seeking re-election on Jan. 14.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS