Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chien Chao-tung (簡肇棟) yesterday tendered his resignation and withdrew from January’s legislative elections in Greater Taichung after being released on bail for a hit-and-run accident in which a man died.
In a hastily called press conference after being released on NT$200,000 bail, Chien denied intentionally leaving the scene of an accident, but announced he was stepping down as a legislator and pulling out of the election.
He said he thought he had run over an object, not a person.
Photo: Chang Hsieh-sheng, Taipei Times
Chien, 56, said he did not know he had run over and killed the man, surnamed Chen (陳), until he was informed by police yesterday morning.
He said he had extended his condolences to Chen’s family and that he would face up to the ensuing investigation.
DPP officials said the party was sorry to learn of the accident and extended its condolences to the victim and his family, and it would conduct its own investigation as well.
A replacement candidate for Chien would be announced later, the party said.
Chien was driving in Dali District (大里), Greater Taichung, on Saturday night when he ran over a man in his 50s at 11:48pm, Taichung City police chief Tiao Cheng-sheng (刁建生) said yesterday.
The victim was sent to hospital before being pronounced dead from severe injuries a short time later.
Police identified Chien through surveillance video, Tiao said, adding that Chien had reported to the police and admitted he was driving the car at the time of the accident.
Police said a witness reported that the victim appeared drunk and was hit by a car after falling onto the road.
Taichung City Police Bureau’s Traffic Police Corps declined to discuss specific details of the accident because its investigation was ongoing.
Chien, who had been seeking re-election, was running against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in the seventh district of Taiping (太平) and Dali (大里).
A physician by training, Chien defeated the KMT’s Yu Wen-chin (余文欽) in Taichung County in a by-election for the legislative seat in January last year.
He had lost in the same district in the 2008 legislative elections to the KMT’s Chiang Lien-fu (江連福). Chiang lost the seat in October 2009 for vote-buying.
Chien also served as Dali City mayor in what was then Taichung County from 1998 to 2002 and a previous term as a DPP legislator from 2002 to 2005.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS