Representative to Japan Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday said that it was he — not Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) New Taipei City mayoral candidate Hou You-yi (侯友宜) — who in 1997 entered the residence of then-South African military attache McGill Alexander, negotiated with notorious kidnapper and convicted murderer Chen Ching-hsing (陳進興) and rescued the envoy and his family, whom Chen had held hostage.
Hsieh made the remarks in response to media queries about a comment made by former Presidential Office secretary-general Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭).
Yeh came under fire online for saying that Hsieh was the key figure behind Alexander’s family being released and accusing Hou of attempting to “take the credit” for the hostage crisis when he mentioned the incident at a campaign rally on Sunday.
Photo: Hung Ting-hung, Taipei Times
Hsieh, a lawyer, did not hold any public office at the time, while Hou was the Taipei Police Criminal Investigation Division chief sent to apprehend Chen.
Chen had demanded that Hsieh negotiate with him and promise to represent him in court in exchange for his surrender, as he had been angered by his wife and younger brother allegedly being tortured by police.
“Chu-lan told the truth,” Hsieh said on the sidelines of a campaign event for Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Kaohsiung mayoral candidate Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁).
Asked whether Hou had entered Alexander’s home in Taipei and negotiated with Chen, Hsieh said Hou did not.
“An extensive area had been cordoned off by the police,” Hsieh said. “Hou was in a command post ... with some prosecutors, where he tried to talk to Chen on the phone.”
“I retrieved a gun and a hostage... I had brought [then-]Control Yuan member Yeh Yao-peng [葉耀鵬] in with me,” Hsieh said. “I handed the child to a police officer, who handed him to Hou. He showed up [in front of the media] with the child. Suddenly, all flashlights were on him.”
Hsieh said he would release an audio recording of the negotiation to prove that Hou was not part of it.
Responding to Yeh’s accusations, Hou on Wednesday said: “There were hundreds of reporters on the scene.”
Asked to comment on the matter yesterday, Hou urged people to review the footage taken that night.
Hsieh should be lauded for highlighting his contribution, but he did not need to draw attention to his legacy on the eve of the election, Hou’s campaign office later said.
In response to media queries for comments on Hsieh’s revelation, DPP New Taipei City mayoral candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said now that Hsieh has told the truth, “residents should take a few moments to think about what kind of person would better serve New Taipei City.”
Additional reporting by Sean Lin and Chen Hsin-yu
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
A BETRAYAL? It is none of the ministry’s business if those entertainers love China, but ‘you cannot agree to wipe out your own country,’ the MAC minister said Taiwanese entertainers in China would have their Taiwanese citizenship revoked if they are holding Chinese citizenship, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said. Several Taiwanese entertainers, including Patty Hou (侯佩岑) and Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜), earlier this month on their Weibo (微博) accounts shared a picture saying that Taiwan would be “returned” to China, with tags such as “Taiwan, Province of China” or “Adhere to the ‘one China’ principle.” The MAC would investigate whether those Taiwanese entertainers have Chinese IDs and added that it would revoke their Taiwanese citizenship if they did, Chiu told the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper
The Chinese wife of a Taiwanese, surnamed Liu (劉), who openly advocated for China’s use of force against Taiwan, would be forcibly deported according to the law if she has not left Taiwan by Friday, National Immigration Agency (NIA) officials said yesterday. Liu, an influencer better known by her online channel name Yaya in Taiwan (亞亞在台灣), obtained permanent residency via marriage to a Taiwanese. She has been reported for allegedly repeatedly espousing pro-unification comments on her YouTube and TikTok channels, including comments supporting China’s unification with Taiwan by force and the Chinese government’s stance that “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.” Liu
FATE UNKNOWN: The owner of the dog could face a fine of up to NT$150,000 and the animal could be euthanized if he cannot show that he can effectively supervise it A pit bull terrier has been confiscated by authorities after it yesterday morning bit a motorcyclist in Taipei, following footage of the same dog in a similar attack going viral online earlier this month. When the owner, surnamed Hsu (徐), stopped at a red light on Daan District’s (大安) Wolong Street at 8am, the dog, named “Lucky,” allegedly rolled down the automatic window of the pickup truck they were riding in, leapt out of the rear passenger window and attacked a motorcyclist behind them, Taipei’s Daan District Police Precinct said. The dog clamped down on the man’s leg and only let go
RSS