The corpse of a 34-year-old woman who died as long as six months ago was discovered at Taipei City Hall late on Thursday night, prompting a woman claiming to be her sister to suggest that she had been murdered to suppress her protests aimed at the president.
The body of Chen Chin-chu (
According to prosecutors, the woman probably died six months ago with the cause of death thought to be a compound fracture sustained in a fall.
Investigators said that they suspected the woman had committed suicide.
"The body was not found until months later because it was in a part of the building [that is not often used]," Taipei City's Xinyi District deputy chief of police Huang Shi-Chin (
FOUL PLAY
However, the dead woman's sister said she suspected foul play and demanded that the police investigate.
The woman, who refused to give her name, read from her late sister's diary in support of her accusation.
"I've heard about political suppression, but I never thought it would happen to me in a democratic country. Now I feel it and I believe there will be more to come," she quoted the diary as saying at a press conference at the city council yesterday.
The woman was accompanied by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Joanna Lei (雷倩), KMT Taipei City Councilor Lee Chin-yuan (李慶元) and New Party Taipei City Councilor Hou Kuan-chiung (侯冠群).
The woman said Chen Chin-chu believed that President Chen Shui-bian (
She said her sister had waved the national flag in front of the Presidential Office every night since then as a protest.
PRESSURE
Chen Chin-chu was questioned by police over her protests last June.
Her sister said that she was under tremendous pressure before she went missing as a result of repeated warnings from law enforcement officials.
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei city councilors lashed out at Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) over the incident yesterday, accusing him of negligence and poor management.
"This may be a minor incident, but do you realize that the body might have been there when tens of thousands of people celebrated the new year in front of the city hall?" DPP city councilor Lee Chien-chang (李建昌) said during a question-and-answer session at Taipei City Council.
Ma acknowledged the city government's carelessness and promised that the matter would be looked into.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS