A man deliberately rammed his car against a gate of the president’s official residence Tuesday morning to call attention to problems in Taiwan’s medical system.
The incident occurred shortly after 7am. Chen Ping-sung, who is 60 years old, crashed his sedan into gate No.3 of Ma’s official residence. He had a can of red paint hung on the car’s front bumper. The car was stopped when a front tire was pierced by spikes at the front of the gate. The can of paint burst open and splashed paint at the scene. No one was injured.
Chen was arrested and taken to a nearby police station for questioning and then released on bail.
Presidential Office spokeswoman Ma Wei-kuo said the president was informed of the incident immediately.
"President Ma Ying-jeou was inside the residence and was informed of the situation right away. The presidential office respects the public’s right to express their opinions rationally but condemns any form of violence," said Ma.
Chen is a former chief executive of a biomedical foundation based in Pingtung County. In a Facebook post in September, Chen identified "nine medical malpractices caused by bureaucratic medicine" that he said had cost many Taiwanese patients their lives.