Ignoring the opposition from the NPA under the Ministry of Interior (MOI), Taipei County Magistrate Chou Hsi-wei recently promoted the 140 officers.

Chou said that the MOI and the NPA have illegally expanded their powers to retain the jurisdiction over personal changes.

He planned to promote some senior police officers after completing a visit to Singapore this week.

Chou made the moves on grounds that the Legislative Yuan already revised a law to give Taipei County the status equivalent to the special municipalities as are now enjoyed by capital Taipei and Kaohsiung City in the southern Taiwan

The special status grants Taipei County a higher administrative echelon higher than other county and city governments on the island. It also enjoys greater administrative autonomy.

In a statement released in the afternoon, the NPA said the Taipei County Government does not possess the authority to make the promotions because it is not a “special municipality” but only a similar administration.

The highest authority governing the nation’s police force remains at the MOI, the statement said.

The MOI consigned certain police work to local-level municipal and county governments through the NPA.

This means these governments do not possess the promotions or demotions of police officers.

The Taipei County Government does not possess the same rights as the Taipei municipal government and the Kaohsiung municipal government.

The 140 officers who just received promotions show no joy because the promotions were nullified by the NPA.

It may still take a quite while before the NPA and county government sort our their differences on the issue, one of them said.

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