The body of Jeffrey Koo Sr (辜濂松), founder and former chairman of one of Taiwan’s largest banks, Chinatrust Financial Holding Co, arrived in Taiwan early yesterday morning.
Koo died at the age of 79 on Dec. 5 in New York after reportedly battling Parkinson’s disease for some years.
The charter plane carrying Koo’s body along with members of his family was greeted by dozens of Chinatrust executives and other Koo family members.
Photo: CNA
The Koo family organized a simple ceremony led by a pastor for the late banker at an EVA Airways cargo facility before taking his body in a motorcade to Taipei.
The motorcade drove past Chinatrust’s headquarters in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義), where more than 2,000 employees lined up on the street to mourn Koo’s death, many of them in tears.
The motorcade then drove to Sanjhih (三芝) in New Taipei City (新北市), where Koo’s body was to be temporarily placed.
Later, more than 300 Chinatrust employees were taken to Sanjhih to pay their respects to Koo.
According to Chinatrust, his family will organize a requiem Mass.
Koo went to the US earlier this year for treatment, where he was reported to have been diagnosed with a brain tumor.
He died in the company of his family.
His elder son, Jeffrey Koo Jr (辜仲諒), who had been previously barred from leaving the country over his alleged role in a financial scandal, paid a record NT$1billion (US$34.3 million) as a guarantee late last month in exchange for court permission to visit his ailing father in New York.
The late tycoon represented Taiwan in the international arena in numerous capacities, including serving as the nation’s representative on the APEC’s Business Advisory Council from 1995 to 2009.
A long-time “ambassador-at-large,” in September Koo was conferred the Order of the Rising Sun by the Japanese government, the highest honor given by Japan to businesspeople, for his contributions in promoting Japan-Taiwan ties.
He has also been honored by former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for his long-term efforts in expanding Taiwan’s ties with the international community, and pushing for economic and trade cooperation with other countries.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we