COVID-19 patient arrested after fleeing Taipei hospital
By Tsai Ssu-pei and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter and staff writer, with CNA
Taipei police yesterday apprehended a COVID-19 patient after he allegedly escaped from a hospital isolation ward following a scuffle with officers.
The man, surnamed Chen (陳), 71, was arrested at his residence in Wanhua District (萬華) hours after his flight from the hospital, a Taipei Police Department spokesman said.
Chen, a confirmed COVID-19 case who was supposed to be undergoing quarantine, at about half past midnight yesterday allegedly visited the emergency room of Taipei City Hospital’s Renai branch complaining of a headache and insomnia, the spokesman said.
Songshan Precinct chief removed after damage to station
By Chiu Chun-fu
and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
The National Police Agency (NPA) yesterday removed Lin Chih-cheng (林志誠) from his post as Taipei Songshan Precinct chief because of an incident at the precinct’s Zhonglun Police Station in which a group of young men were released without being charged after causing damage at the station.
At about 2am on April 16, a physical training instructor at the precinct named Yang Chung-li (楊忠蒞), 49, was chased into the station after an argument with a group of 10 men who were out drinking.
Yang had also been drinking, and said he had been on his way to the station at the time to rest.
Notes from central Taiwan: Why Taiwan should be concerned about “substate actors”
Many Taiwanese organized crime gangs, including the largest and most pervasive, are pro-China and could be used as a means to overthrow the government
By Michael Turton / Contributing reporter
Longtime Taiwan-based political commentator J. Michael Cole pointed out this week in the Global Taiwan Brief that a real and serious threat to Taiwan is the potential that its current “gray zone” tactics could be carried further via Chinese Communist Party (CCP) sponsorship of “substate actors” in Taiwan to carry out assassinations and foment social unrest.
Cole instances Russia’s intervention in Ukraine using substate actors. Cole observes that many Taiwan organized crime gangs, including the largest and most pervasive, are pro-China and have long practiced the art of funneling weapons and funds through their networks in Asia. They would make ideal agents for substate actions against Taiwan.