CRIME
Taiwanese killed in Hungary
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday confirmed that a Taiwanese student surnamed Chen (陳) was murdered in Hungary earlier this month, following allegations that she was killed by her Hungarian boyfriend in an apparent murder-suicide. Taiwan’s representative office in Hungary has confirmed the identity of Chen after contacting local police upon learning that a University of Szeged student who was found dead on May 13 could be a Taiwanese national, ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) said. The office informed Chen’s parents in Taiwan of her passing and booked flights for them to travel to Vienna on May 16. Hungarian media reports identified Chen as a fourth-year medical student. She was one of the two bodies found by police on May 13 on the first floor of a two-story apartment building. Her boyfriend allegedly shot Chen with his father’s hunting rifle before killing himself with the same weapon, reports said.
SOCIETY
Kids struck by deadwood
Two sisters aged six and eight were on Sunday hospitalized after being struck by deadwood while hiking in Tainan’s Dadongshan mountain resort, the Tainan Fire Department said. Their mother said she heard a loud noise before the piece of deadwood fell on the girls as they walked between her and her husband. The younger sister had swollen eyes, a nosebleed and dizziness, but remained conscious, while the older sister sustained a skull fracture and had a wound at the corner of her mouth, paramedics said. She also showed signs of confusion when she arrived at the foot of the mountain, they said. Their conditions remain stable, hospital personnel said.
SOCIETY
Family accused of abuse
A Taichung woman and her two daughters have been accused of mistreating a live-in Indonesian caregiver, prosecutors said. The caregiver was hired in May last year to look after the woman’s son after he had a stroke. Prosecutors on Tuesday last week charged the woman surnamed Hou (侯), who is in her 70s, and her two daughters surnamed Wen (文), aged 43 and 46, with multiple offenses, including confining the caregiver to the residence, beating her, confiscating her mobile phone and passport, making her work more than 21 hours a day and making illegal deductions from her salary. The alleged abuse was revealed after the caregiver’s labor broker notified the authorities following a visit to the Hou family home, where he noticed bruises on the caregiver’s body, prosecutors said. The broker visited the residence after the caregiver’s husband told him that he had been unable to contact his wife for five months.
CULTURE
Short film earns plaudits
A short animated film by Taiwanese artist Zhang Xu-zhan (張徐展), which integrates similar folk stories from different countries, was well-received by the audience at the Roppongi Art Night in Tokyo on Saturday. Originally adapted from the Southeast Asian folktale The Mousedeer Crosses the River, the 16-minute Compound Eyes of Tropical incorporates elements from Taiwan’s folk culture dance parades and ceremonial festivals to tell the story of how a smart mousedeer tricks a crocodile to cross a river. The film won the Best Animated Short Film award at last year’s Golden Horse Awards. Zhang is also the first Taiwanese artist to be designated as one of the Deutsche Bank Artists of the Year in 2020.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
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