Chinese investigators have concluded that a Taiwanese man who said his hand was severed on Nov. 4 during a robbery had actually mutilated himself, public security authorities in China’s Fujian Province said yesterday at a press conference in Fuzhou City.
While displaying diagrams of the appendage, Fujian chief investigator Ye Ying (葉穎) said the investigation concluded that a day after entering China on Nov. 3, Hu Chi-yang (胡其揚) cut off his own hand in the city of Putian, then later said he had been accosted by three robbers who cut off his hand with a meat cleaver to take his ring and watch.
Putian Public Security Bureau Deputy Director Cui Jianguo (崔建國) said the investigation began as a robbery and assault case, but investigators found that nobody within 10m of the alleged attack had heard any commotion at the time the incident allegedly took place.
Photo: CNA
According to Cui, Hu did not immediately alert the police after the incident, but instead returned to his Putian home, adding that Hu’s wife did not make a police report until later.
In response, Hu’s daughter, Hu Yi-ling (胡怡玲), expressed her outrage in Taipei yesterday, saying the investigation’s conclusion was untrue and unbelievable.
Meanwhile, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) yesterday said it had received a response from its Chinese counterpart regarding a request to return Hu Chi-yang’s severed hand.
Hu Chi-yang returned to Taiwan on Nov. 8, leaving the severed part of his hand in Fujian, where it was kept by local police as evidence.
However, the SEF declined to go into detail about the response from the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).
The SEF said it wrote to the ARATS three times during the past 21 days after it learned of the incident.
The first message was sent on Nov. 7, soon after Hu Yi-ling said her father had been assaulted during a visit to Putian.
The SEF said it wrote again on Nov. 9, asking for judicial cooperation in solving the case and finding and arresting Hu Chi-yang’s alleged assailants.
The SEF said it wrote again recently, asking the ARATS to assist by allowing the man’s severed hand to be returned to Taiwan.
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