Taipei police yesterday detained democracy advocate Wuer Kaixi on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). He was released after questioning at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office.
Wuer Kaixi could face charges of offenses against public safety after he was stopped while riding a scooter and testing showed that his blood alcohol level was 0.4 milligrams per liter (mg/L), exceeding the legal limit of 0.15mg/L, Ruian Street Police Station chief Huang Chien-chang (黃建彰) said.
Officers saw a scooter being driven erratically along Heping W Road at about 1:30am, he said.
Photo: CNA
They followed it for a while before flagging down the driver, he said.
“We took him in as a DUI case, as the suspect exceeded the legal limit for alcohol,” he said.
Wuer Kaixi was with friends on Saturday night at a bar, where they drank beer, police quoted him as saying.
He decided to drive to his New Taipei City home, because he believed he was still clear-minded enough to handle the trip, they quoted him as saying.
“I admit what I did was wrong, and I cooperated with the police procedures,” Wuer Kaixi told reporters after his release.
Police confiscated his scooter as part of the DUI investigation and transferred him to the prosecutors’ office.
After questioning, prosecutors released him, as there was no accident and the suspect had admitted to wrongdoing, the office said.
Wuer Kaixi was a prominent Uighur student leader in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing and fled China after the June 4 massacre.
Wanted by the Chinese government for his part in the protest movement, he was helped by underground networks to reach France.
He came to Taiwan in 1996.
He married a Taiwanese and has been given Republic of China citizenship.
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
New Party Deputy Secretary-General You Chih-pin (游智彬) this morning went to the National Immigration Agency (NIA) to “turn himself in” after being notified that he had failed to provide proof of having renounced his Chinese household registration. He was one of more than 10,000 naturalized Taiwanese citizens from China who were informed by the NIA that their Taiwanese citizenship might be revoked if they fail to provide the proof in three months, people familiar with the matter said. You said he has proof that he had renounced his Chinese household registration and demanded the NIA provide proof that he still had Chinese
RSS