By KHT Staff. AI-generated illustration based on a reference photograph of police outside Commander D.
TAIPEI — Foreign customers at a Taipei gay bar were allegedly warned that police could stop them at the airport and prevent them from leaving Taiwan unless they paid NT$1,500 fines for being shirtless, according to a witness account published by Mirror Media on Oct. 30.
The allegation concerns the Oct. 3 search of Commander D in Wanhua District (萬華區), an operation that has already resulted in disciplinary action against six police officers. Those penalties concerned inappropriate remarks and supervision failures, rather than a finding about the alleged airport warnings.
The witness, a 44-year-old massage therapist identified as Max (麥斯), told Mirror Media that officers said foreign patrons who did not pay could be intercepted by detectives at the airport and might be unable to depart. KHT has not independently verified the warning, the grounds for the reported fines or whether any departure restriction was imposed.
Police have defended the search as a court-authorized investigation while acknowledging misconduct during the operation.
At an Oct. 5 briefing, Taipei Police Commissioner Lin Yen-tien (林炎田) said investigators had received 13 complaints about suspected offenses against public morals at the venue and obtained a search warrant after gathering evidence.
A review of body-camera footage confirmed inappropriate remarks by four officers, each of whom received two reprimands. The supervising detective commander received a demerit for failing to intervene, while the precinct chief requested two reprimands for inadequate supervision, CNA reported.
Max’s interview describes what he says happened to customers during the search. He said he was wearing a shirt but remained at the bar to accompany friends. According to his account, a lawyer advised those present that they were not defendants and that police needed specific grounds to require them to accompany officers.
Nevertheless, he alleged, officers told patrons they could either board police vehicles in groups of three or be taken away in handcuffs.
Max responded by openly challenging officers. When told to be quiet, he asked whether the bar was a library. He also said he secretly recorded footage and posted it to Threads, where it attracted more than 5,000 likes.
When the detective commander asked for his identification number, Max said he refused and requested a formal record of his objection. According to his account, the commander agreed but then ordered officers to withdraw, leaving him at the bar while others were taken to the station.
His response, he told Mirror Media, reflected distrust built through earlier encounters with police.
At Taipei’s Aniki gym/sauna club, he recalled officers allegedly assembling naked customers in the lobby, requiring them to give their identification numbers and filming them. During a separate search of a massage studio where he worked, he alleged that officers threatened to bring journalists to photograph him if he did not cooperate.
These are Max’s accounts of separate incidents, not findings established in the Commander D investigation. He said fear of exposure makes it difficult for gay men and sex workers to challenge officers, even when they believe their treatment is improper.
After the recent search, Max said he struggled to eat and sleep for three days and later nearly fainted in the street.
Police said 51 patrons were taken to the station for statements and subsequently released. The bar’s operator was referred to prosecutors over suspected offenses against public morals; that referral does not establish guilt. Police also denied targeting people because of their sexual orientation.
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) apologized to those affected and called for a review of improper conduct and stronger police discipline.
