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President acquiesces
to use of ‘shoe catching nets’
By Mo Yan-chih / Staff reporter
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will respect police security arrangements at public
events, the Presidential Office said yesterday, dismissing allegations that the
president opposed the use of nets by police to block objects hurled by
protesters.
“President Ma absolutely respects the special security center’s professional
judgement, and there is no instruction for the police to discontinue use of the
nets,” Presidential Office spokesperson Lee Chia-fei (李佳霏) said.
Lee made the comments in response to a story in the Chinese-language China Times
that Ma was not supportive of the police’s latest move to purchase nets and use
them to protect him from shoes thrown by protesters.
The story said Ma had instructed the police not to set up the nets out at public
events he attended.
Ma told the special security center that he wanted to attend events without
dodging the public, and they should treat protests as normal.
The special security center later negotiated with the police and decided not to
use nets as a security tool if the scale of protests was small, the story said.
The police began using nets at public events Ma attended after an increasing
number of protests against him in recent weeks. Protesters have thrown shoes at
the president during his appearances, prompting security personnel prepare nets
to block any items thrown.
Taiwan Solidarity Union Legislator Huang Wen-ling (黃文玲) said that the police
spent NT$500,000 purchasing the so-called “shoe-catching nets” to be used during
Ma’s appearances.
Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) also expressed his concern about the use of
the nets, saying that it is “stupid” for the police to purchase nets and use
them to block objects thrown by protesters.
Lee Chia-fei said the special security center always make security arrangements
according to the number of participants at the venue, the surrounding
environment at the event and the scale of protests, and will decide whether nets
are necessary.
When Ma visited Asia University in Greater Taichung on Thursday, the police did
not set up nets because the protesters were outside the campus, she said.
“Local police will carry nets with them at events, and the security personnel
will make a final decision on whether the nets should be used,” she said.
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