A driver rammed a large truck into the main gate of the Presidential Office Building yesterday morning, in what police have initially determined was an intentional act.
Chiehshou Police Station Chief Tsai Han-cheng (蔡漢政) said the driver has been identified as Chang Te-cheng (張德正).
The incident — the most serious security breach to occur at the Presidential Office Building in years — took place at 5:05am when Chang drove a 35-tonne truck into the office, ramming through three layers of protective barriers and speeding up a flight of stairs before being stopped by a bulletproof door leading to the office’s main building, police said.
Photo: Chen En-hui, Taipei Times
Security personnel had slammed shut the bulletproof door in seconds when they saw the vehicle heading toward the building, they added.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was not in the building at the time of the incident, as he is on a state visit to Sao Tome and Principe.
The impact from the crash knocked Chang unconscious and he was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, police said, adding that no one else had been injured and the truck had been towed away from the scene.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Tsai said the 41-year-old suffered contusions to the back of his head, a collapsed lung and fractures in his hands and legs.
He was conscious after receiving treatment, but has so far refused to answer questions, the police chief added.
Tsai said that Chang’s mother told the authorities that her son does not have a political preference and seldom talked about politics.
She then said that her son had written a note on a mirror in his room yesterday morning asking her to take care of herself and his children, and saying that as for “my own business, I will resolve that myself.”
Chang’s mother told the police that her son had recently divorced his second wife and was being sued by his ex-wife’s brother for allegedly causing her bodily harm.
The vehicle that Chang was driven belonged to a transportation company in Taipei where he started working six months ago.
According to the company’s owner, surnamed Lin (林), Chang drove the truck from the firm’s premises at 4am on an assignment to carry construction waste from Taoyuan County’s Gueishan Township (龜山) to Keelung.
Lin was quoted as telling the police that Chang had a good work record and that he did not talk a lot with his colleagues.
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday morning sent officials to examine the scene.
The prosecutors’ office said that Chang could face charges of interfering with public functions, in addition to charges of destruction, abandonment and damaging property.
Additional reporting by CNA and AFP
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
SOLUTIONS NEEDED: Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers due to population decline, the minister of economic affairs said in Washington President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration is considering a plan to import labor to deal with an impending shortage of engineers and other highly skilled workers, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said in Washington on Tuesday. Kuo was leading a delegation attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit. Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers for high-end manufacturing jobs by 2040, he said. Ministry of Economic Affairs officials are still calculating the precise number of workers that are needed, as it works on loosening immigration restrictions and creating incentives, Kuo said. Taiwanese firms operating factories in the US and other countries would