China Post steals Ni Howdy writers

I'm not sure what concerns me more about this article from the China Post: the content or the writing style. The content suggests that any of the foreign musicians could be deported. Exempting folk singers and The Deported, that is a little troubling. The writing style and the fact that it appeared in Taiwan's oldest English daily as a bona fide news story is downright creepy. However, a quick click on their link explained the matter.

Official interpreters in Taiwan courts are often known as interrupters
2005/12/7The China Post staff

Interpreters are often known as interrupters.
They are, if they do not understand what they have heard or are unable to say what they mean.
Most, if not all, of official interpreters in courts of law in Taiwan definitely are.
Most of the time, however, their interruption matters little. Those foreigners they have interrupted in court, more often than not, do not complain. There were exceptions, of course. One of them occurred only a couple of days ago.
An American, known only as Scott, will have to be deported shortly.
The reason: Scott sang to entertain guests at a restaurant in Taitung free of charge.
Scott was arrested on charges of violating the alien service act. He entered Taiwan not as an entertainer. He was questioned by Taitung police, none of whom spoke English.
By gestures and other body languages, investigators got answers from Scott, who was then asked to sign the police report on his "crime."
He refused to sign, because he knows his answers were concocted by non-English-speaking cops. One of them, however, knew enough English to tell the American, "You in big trouble."
The American was.
He filed complaints with the administrative court, where an interpreter was an interrupter.
The Taipei high administrative court finally ruled Scott was guilty as charged. The deportation was ordered, plus a proviso that he should never come back to Taiwan again.
That is not an isolated case, according to a well-known attorney who helped write up a report on the quality of judicial trials involving aliens.
Quoting the 2001 report, the attorney says "few interpreters at all levels of law court know enough English or Japanese or even their own language (including such dialects as Hoklo and Hakka) to perform their functions."
Well, practically all court interpreters are interrupters.