I agree.
And after we crucify this sinner, Mr. Jimi Presley, take his body off the cross, and stone him until he is even deader.
Ain’t it obvious that if he were smoking at the time, that he must have had his mask down, if not completely off his face?
How dare you!
During the pandemic of 1918 in the U.S. many smokers burned holes in their masks so they could smoke cigars and cigarettes while still wearing their masks. Let’s not assume the OP was so reckless as to have completely removed his mask. 
haha… yeah, I was too lazy to google and attach a photo. You did one better and found an article. Nice.
I really want to go full @Marco on this, but what to do and where to go?
Can you get CCTV recoding from the nearby shops?
That’s a normal day in Japan for being a foreigner, where cops are legally allowed and regularly do harass foreigners for their ID randomly.
Usually Taiwan cops try to avoid foreigners to prevent any situations occuring that they will need to translate for. Maybe a foreigner is dating his daughter and he’s pissed so he singled you out.
You could always try getting the new ID number - maybe the portable police computer won’t recognise it haha.
Isn’t being ID’d something that just happens in Taiwan from time to time? I’ve read people on Facebook complaining about it before - there seemed to be multiple reports of it happening around the same time maybe 2 years ago - a couple of foreigners getting stopped and asked for ID around Da’an Park and somewhere in New Taipei or something.
I say brush it off. Know the laws regarding smoking inside and out. And go to the same spot every day for the next 20 years to have your smoke there. Complaining higher will only bring more sleepless nights. Get a good bottle of scotch and have it with your cig there tonight. No open container laws in Taiwan.
I know them full well, and adhere to them.
quit smoking, and there will be no problem.
Yawn.
Use a body camera. And try to make the situation happen again. But this time, you won’t be surprised because you know what to expect.
Once you have this on video, send it to Marco.
BTW, @Marco do you happen to know where to get a good discreet body camera?
Are you married to a Taiwanese woman?
From experience, bosses, service people, whatever would part like the red sea before you or ignore you or avoid interaction. Oh, the wrath of a Taiwanese woman.
I was sitting with my FIL and his politician friends, one of whom was the mayor of New Taipei City, in a lounge area of the Grand Hotel one day when they all starting smoking. I pulled out a cigarillo and lit up, thinking it was okay. Shortly thereafter one of the hotel staff came up to me and told me in English I wasn’t allowed to smoke there. I dutifully stubbed my smoke out on a plate and waited for everyone else to be told to stop smoking too. The staff member just walked away though and the pols grinned at me and waited to see what I would do. I had no choice. My manhood was on the line . . . so I lit back up and finished my smoke.
As a non-smoker, I will say that these cops have proven to be assholes.
They put pressure on you for doing a petty little thing like smoking on
the sidewalk and they allow local Taiwanese to get away with the same
crap. It’s no different than what black folks in North America have to
face when police harass them for doing a little thing wrong and they let
white people get away with it.
Were you on a covered sidewalk near a convenience store or coffee shop? There’s also definitely no smoking allowed on sidewalks around NTU.
Other than that perhaps the cops were just being a$$holes. There certainly has been an uptick on bring the waiguoren inline over the last few years, in some cases very justified, in others not so much. Banana skin man and mask lady being some high profile examples of foreigners hitting the news for doing something Taiwanese do everyday without a thought and would never be pulled up for.
After being accosted by a former Buxiban boss multiple times, I record all interactions if I sense shit is about to go down.
It’s earned me $25000 so far.
Yes in most places , look for the red lines areas. If he was in one then the cops were just doing their job.
