Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Ching-chung (張慶忠) yesterday said that a man caught on camera beating a television news cameraman at the KMT’s 121st anniversary celebration on Sunday afternoon was his youngest son.
Chang told the Chinese-language Apple Daily that it was his third son, Chang Chun-yung (張鈞詠), who was seen assaulting CtiTV cameraman Kuo Hsien-yang (郭先揚) at the event in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋).
Chang said it was the first time his son had attended such an event.
Photo: Yu Heng, Taipei Times
“My wife [KMT New Taipei City Councilor Chen Ching-ting (陳錦錠)] will take care of the matter and she is very sorry about this,” he said.
The lawmaker, his wife and Chang Chun-yung appeared together late yesterday, bowing and apologizing over the incident.
Chang Chun-yung works as an assistant to his mother.
The incident occurred as reporters, photographers and videographers rushed former KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), seeking an interview, who kept walking and not responding to questions. Kuo allegedly bumped into Chen or Chang Chun-yung in the process, and the young man reportedly began swearing at him.
According to Kuo, Chang Chun-yung wrapped his arms around his neck and threw him and his camera to the ground, which caused abrasions on his back.
“He then tried to snatch my camera out of my hand, causing some contusions and scratches on my left wrist,” Kuo said.
The cameraman said he has filed charges against Chang Chun-yung and demanded compensation for his damaged camera.
CtiTV’s news channel yesterday released a statement condemning the violence, adding that police are investigating the incident to determine who was at fault.
The incident is another blow for Chang Ching-chung, who is one of the three KMT lawmakers and legislative candidates targeted by the “Voting Out Candidates Movement” initiated by several activist groups.
The groups have cited his move to rush the contentious cross-strait service trade agreement through a legislative committee review in March last year, as well as his stand against lowering the recall threshold and the suspension of construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, as the reasons he should be voted out of office.
People First Party (PFP) Deputy Secretary-General Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) called on the public not to resort to verbal or physical violence against reporters, saying most of them are professional and diligent and are willing to risk their lives to get first-hand information.
“The culprit represents the city councilor he works for. If he dares treat a reporter in such a manner, how is he going to treat ordinary people? As the old saying goes: A crooked stick will have a crooked shadow,” Liu said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
Taiwanese barista Xie Yi-chen (謝溢宸) recently triumphed at the 2024 World Coffee Championships, taking home 1st place in the World Latte Art category. Xie, 28, impressed the judges in the final round with patterns of a whale, a moose, and a dragon in the three-day competition that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark from June 27-29, clinching the title of latte art world champion during his first time representing Taiwan on the world stage. At a press conference held by the Taiwan Coffee Association on Thursday, Xie said that creating latte art gives him a tremendous feeling of achievement. Speaking about his entries in
TRAVEL CONVENIENCE: The program is to shorten wait times while passing through airport checks and would start for Taiwanese from January next year Japan is to launch a new program to expedite entry procedures for Taiwanese starting from January next year. The Japanese government is planning to introduce new rules to shorten the time it takes foreign travelers to pass through immigration, thereby attracting more tourists to visit, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported yesterday. An airport preclearance program would be implemented to allow foreign travelers to finish some screenings at their departure airport’s terminals and undergo simple confirmation procedures upon arrival, it said. The program would initially be applied to travelers from Taiwan from January next year and could be extended to travelers from elsewhere depending
The annual Taipei Summer Festival, which starts today, is to tone down its fireworks displays, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said on Monday. Fireworks displays are to be held at the riverside site in Datong District’s (大同) Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area on four days at this year’s festival, with the first today, and then on Wednesday next week, July 31 and Aug. 10, the department said. There were eight displays last year, with the reduction aimed at minimizing inconvenience to local residents, it said. The first three shows, which are all on Wednesdays, are to last for five minutes, while the final