Taipei City Paints Footbridge Glass Amid Suspicions of Blocking Protest Banners; City Cites Beautification Project

(CNA, Taipei, May 19, by reporters Yang Shu-min and Huang Li-yun) A banner recently appeared on a footbridge near Taipei's Shuinan Market reading, "The central government must pass special laws for everything, because Wan-an can't get it done." Some have questioned whether the city government painted the transparent glass to prevent the banner from being visible. The city government said today that it is currently carrying out a beautification project in response to complaints about the bridge being old and dirty. The footbridge connecting to Taipei's Shuinan Market (Ming Chuan Elementary School Pedestrian Overpass) has seen intermittent posting of banners by the public since the removal of the Gongguan Roundabout and the filling of the underpass last year. Previous banners, such as "Wan-an did it! A construction miracle, smoother to dismantle than not," and "Is Taipei Zoo becoming Taipei Rat Zoo??" were removed after being discovered. Recently, a member of the public posted on the social media platform Threads, stating that new banners like "Slow response to rat infestation, negligent on secret chamber safety checks" and "The central government must pass special laws for everything, because Wan-an can't get it done" were put up on the footbridge. The post alleged that the city government "secretly painted the footbridge glass at midnight, so even if 'Banner Superman' puts up banners, they can't be seen." The local police stated that they received a report from the public yesterday at noon about someone posting notes related to a rat infestation and immediately notified the Taipei City Department of Environmental Protection to send personnel to remove them. Regarding the "The central government must pass special laws" banner posted by netizens today, the police received no related reports. When officers checked the scene at noon, it had already been removed. A reporter visiting the site this afternoon observed that the glass on both sides of the stairs leading up to the footbridge had been painted blue, and parts of the glass on the horizontal surface of the footbridge, near the National Taiwan University side, were also partially painted. The New Construction Office of the Taipei City Public Works Department told a CNA reporter that the city government had received complaints from local residents about the bridge's structure and glass being old and dirty and is currently conducting cleaning and beautification work. To match the sky-blue color of the exterior of the nearby Shuinan Market building, the same color scheme was adopted for the bridge structure and glass to maintain the consistency of the cityscape, contrary to rumors that it was "painted black." Furthermore, regarding the illegal posting of the banner, the New Construction Office said that to maintain the cleanliness of public structures, it requested the Department of Environmental Protection to remove it in accordance with the Self-Governing Ordinance for Advertisement and the Waste Disposal Act.