The director-general of the National Police Agency, Hou You-yi (
Hou said police have identified a suspect who will be arrested soon.
Hou made the remarks in response to reporters' questions after Legislator Huang Chao-shun (
Earlier yesterday, Legislator Lee Chen-nan (
Lee said the bullet was from a rifle, the kind of weapon that could penetrate a normal bullet-proof vest. If the letter was not a joke, he said, it was a very serious matter.
Besides Huang and Lee, four other lawmakers have received similar letters, including Hsieh Hsin-ni (
Lee pointed out that in addition to himself, six other lawmakers received similar letters at the same time yesterday. Saying that the sender of the threatening mail was too bold to respect the law. Lee urged police to solve the case as soon as possible.
According to the police, the threatening letters have been sent by a single individual -- likely a political fanatic dissatisfied with the country's current political situation -- because the Chinese characters on the letters appear to have come from the same printer.
The threatening letters triggered safety concerns among lawmakers that surfaced following the death of Taipei County Councilor Wu Shan-jeou (吳善九) of the People First Party, who was shot several times by a lone gunman at his office in Taipei County on May 23.
Before the gangland-style killing, Wu had also received a threatening letter containing a bullet.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
Minister of Labor Ho Pei-shan (何佩珊) yesterday apologized after the suicide of a civil servant earlier this month and announced that a supervisor accused of workplace bullying would be demoted. On Nov. 4, a 39-year-old information analyst at the Workforce Development Agency’s (WDA) northern branch, which covers greater Taipei and Keelung, as well as Yilan, Lienchiang and Kinmen counties, was found dead in their office. WDA northern branch director Hsieh Yi-jung (謝宜容), who has been accused of involvement in workplace bullying, would be demoted to a nonsupervisory position, Ho told a news conference in Taipei. WDA Director-General Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良) said he would