The Taiwan Association for Truth and Reconciliation yesterday questioned the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office’s reinvestigation into the murder of the family members of former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) and urged the office to publicize all original records of investigations relevant to the case.
At a public hearing at the legislature, Wu Nai-teh (吳乃德), a research fellow at the Institute of Sociology at Academia Sinica and president of the association, said members of the organization were deeply disappointed when reading through the office’s report on the reinvestigation into the case.
“[The report] not only failed to clarify any suspicious points [of the case] but also failed to elaborate on some major questions that might help solve the case,” Wu said.
“The report reinforces the public’s [negative] impression of the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] and regrettably fails to help the politically polarized nation move toward reconciliation,” Wu said.
The prosecutors office reopened the Lin family murder case and the probe into the death of Chen Wen-chen (陳文成), a math professor who is believed to have been murdered in March 1981 during the White Terror by the KMT government.
However, after a four-month investigation, prosecutors concluded on July 28 that they were unable to make any breakthrough in the Lin case because they lacked sufficient forensic evidence.
Prosecutors said they also did not find any evidence showing that the former Taiwan Garrison Command had been involved in killing Lin’s mother and twin daughters in 1980.
Wu said if prosecutors could clarify that past intelligence organizations kept the Lin family under 24-hour surveillance, prosecutors could conclude that the murderer was related to the organizations.
The association hoped prosecutors could make public more details of their investigation, including whether they found any documents recording past intelligence agencies’ surveillance of dissidents, Wu said.
An official from the Professor Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation also questioned the prosecutors’ reinvestigation into Chen’s death during the hearing.
Hsieh Ying-ching (謝穎青), a lawyer at the foundation, said the prosecutors’ conclusion still failed to explain if Chen died on the campus of National Taiwan University, where the 31-year-old professor’s body was found, or whether he died elsewhere and the body was moved. Chen’s body was found the day after he was questioned by the Garrison Guard on July 2, 1981.
Prosecutors also failed to find solid evidence to prove that Chen was not drugged or battered before death, Hsieh said.
An autopsy report at the time said judging from Chen’s injuries, he had fallen to his death from either the fourth or fifth floor of a building. However, it is still unclear whether the professor was pushed or committed suicide.
Hsieh urged prosecutors to make public all documented interviews or polygraph tests of witnesses related to Chen’s case.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
President William Lai (賴清德) should protect Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), and stop supporting domestic strife and discord, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) wrote on Facebook yesterday. US President Donald Trump and TSMC on Monday jointly announced that the company would invest an additional US$100 billion over the next few years to expand its semiconductor manufacturing operations in the US. The TSMC plans have promoted concern in Taiwan that it would effectively lead to the chipmaking giant becoming Americanized. The Lai administration lacks tangible policies to address concerns that Taiwan might follow in Ukraine’s footsteps, Ma wrote. Instead, it seems to think it could
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
RSS