Police yesterday were searching for a Taichung gangster after he recorded a video and sent it to a local TV news station swearing to avenge the death of a gang boss.
In the video, Chou Cheng-pao (周政保), 33, threatened to shoot rival "gangster" Liu Jui-jung (劉瑞榮).
Chou, a member of the Celestial Way Gang, stood next to a table with a number of pistols and rifles. In the video he admitted to being behind three recent shooting incidents in the Taichung area.
Wounded
Liu was slightly wounded in a recent shooting at his Taichung residence. Later, a hostess bar and a massage shop owned by Liu had their windows shot out.
Chou alleged that Liu's gang members were responsible for last week's death of gangster Lin Chen-hsing (林振興).
Lin, a member of notorious kidnapper Chang Hsi-ming's (張錫銘) crime ring and a gang "boss" in the Taichung area, was shot to death while drinking with friends at a teashop.
A man wearing a helmet burst into the shop and opened fire, hitting Lin with five bullets.
Chou called Liu a "chicken" in the film, saying Liu was behind Lin's death.
He said he would shoot Liu when he next saw him.
National Police Agency Director-General Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday he could not tolerate a gangster issuing such a public challenge to law and order.
`A nobody'
"Chou is a nobody but alleges that he is a big gangster," Hou added.
He said the video was probably filmed in a motel.
Hou dispatched a group of special police to arrest Chou.
Police yesterday afternoon raided and searched a residence in Taichung that Chou was believed to frequent.
Police arrested two men and a woman at the home and took them to a police station for questioning, adding the three were suspected to be friends of Chou.
Minister of the Interior Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) yesterday told a legislative meeting that police nationwide would launch a crackdown on gangster rings in response to criticism from legislators that the nation's security situation had worsened.
also see story:
Legislators slam officials, premier over `crime wave'
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS