A former China Times employee was hauled in for questioning yesterday for allegedly calling seven foreign representative offices and threatening their diplomats on April 16, warning them not to attend President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration on May 20.
Hsieh Hung-yi (謝宏毅), 42, had been a proofreader for the Chinese-language newspaper but was laid off last December, the National Police Administration's Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday.
He was arrested at his Panchiao residence on Tuesday afternoon and was released last night.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The police said he initially denied the allegations but admitted to the crime yesterday morning.
"Hsieh is an educated man who graduated from National Taiwan University's History Department. He told us that he committed the crime because he hates the Chen administration as he lost a lot of money on the stock market," CIB Commissioner Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said.
When approached by reporters at the CIB, Hsieh was still denying allegations he threatened the diplomats.
"I did not blackmail them," Hsieh said. "I simply hoped that they would not join the inauguration."
Police are investigating whether Hsieh was acting on orders from Beijing.
Hsieh married a Chinese woman a few years ago but the marriage ended in divorce.
He married another Chinese woman last year. The police investigation showed that he came back from China on April 7.
Hsieh allegedly called the American Institute in Taiwan as well as six embassies -- those of Panama, Dominica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica and El Salvador -- and threatened embassy employees, telling them their ambassadors would be assassinated if they attend Chen's inauguration.
The embassies reported the calls to police and said their diplomats will join the inauguration as planned.
The CIB spotted Hsieh's name by reviewing phone records, discovering that he made calls to the embassies from the Hsinpu and Hsimen MRT stations.
"With the help of community security video systems, we finally located him near Wenhua Road in Panchiao, Taipei County," said Chen Che-wen (
Police transferred Hsieh to the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office after a short interrogation at the CIB.
Prosecutors applied to the Taipei District Court to detain Hsieh, but the court said the case was a matter for the High Court to decide.
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
ONE LAST TALK: While Xi said that Taiwan was a ‘red line,’ Biden, in what is likely his last meeting with Xi as president, called for an end to China’s military activity around Taiwan China’s military intimidation and economic coercion against Taiwan are the main causes of tensions that are destabilizing peace in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei said yesterday while thanking US President Joe Biden for expressing Washington’s firm stance of maintaining peace and stability in the region. Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met on Saturday for their third meeting and their first talks in seven months on the sidelines of the APEC forum in Lima, Peru. It was likely Biden’s last meeting as president with Xi. During their conversation, Biden reiterated the US’ opposition to any unilateral change to the “status quo” from either
Taiwan would participate in the 2026 APEC summit to be hosted by China after Beijing promised it would ensure the personal safety of attendees, Taiwanese national security sources said yesterday. The APEC Leaders’ Machu Picchu Declaration announced yesterday said that China would host the APEC summit in 2026. Beijing proposed hosting the summit shortly before this year’s gathering began on Friday, a national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Many APEC members expressed concerns about China hosting the event and said that prior communication over the decision was insufficient, the official said. Taiwan brought up concerns about legal “guidelines” China announced in
MEET AND GREET: The White House, which called the interaction ‘just a handshake,’ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Biden planned to visit Taiwan’s envoy to the APEC summit, Lin Hsin-i (林信義), on Friday invited US President Joe Biden to visit Taiwan. During the APEC Leaders’ Informal Dialogue, Lin, who represented President William Lai (賴清德) at the summit, spoke with Biden and expressed gratitude to the outgoing US president for his contribution to improving bilateral ties between Taipei and Washington over the past four years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Lin and Biden exchanged views during the conversation, with Lin extending an invitation to Biden to visit Taiwan, it said. Biden is to step down in January next year, when US president-elect Donald Trump is
RSS