Cambodian authorities yesterday sentenced two Taiwanese to two years in prison and a NT$30,000 fine each for staging a kidnapping in the southern coastal city of Sihanoukville which they live streamed online.
Chen Neng-chuan (陳能釧), 31, and Lu Tsu-hsien (魯祖顯), 34, were convicted of inciting and causing social disorder a day after Cambodian police officials convened a news conference about their arrest.
Chen, who goes by the online name “Goodnight Chicken” (晚安小雞), and Lu, known by the handle “Anow” (阿鬧), must each pay 4 million riels (US$982), according to a court filing.
Photo: AFP / Preah Sihanouk Provincial Administration
The court said the duo arrived in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, on Sunday intending to film videos with made-up, fake content with a focus on purported human trafficking, beatings and sexual assaults by online scam operators and the human organ harvesting business operating in the nation, the Cambodian China Times reported yesterday.
An investigation found that the duo live-streamed a clip showing Chen headed inside a compound allegedly near the KB Hotel, where he was seemingly beaten up by security guards.
They traveled to Sihanoukville’s Chinatown area the next day, where Chen acted scared, yelling for help while apparently running away from someone who was chasing him, the report said.
At Thursday’s news conference, both men confessed to making fake videos after police seized items and tools they used to make the content.
The duo knelt down, apologized and begged the authorities for forgiveness and to give them a second chance, promising to use their online influence to produce videos showing the “authentic side of Cambodia.”
Preah Sihanouk Governor Kuoch Chamroeun rejected their request, saying that the duo had made serious mistakes and must bear the legal responsibility according to Cambodian law, and that both would be prosecuted and must serve the full prison sentence before being deported.
“It is a very serious matter and it is not enough just to give a verbal reprimand to educate them. If we forgive them, then other people will come here to produce fabricated content and tarnish Cambodia’s image,” Chamroeun was quoted saying.
In Taipei, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) yesterday said that Taiwan respects the investigation and prosecution process by Cambodian police and its justice system.
The nation’s representative office would provide assistance to ensure the men receive fair and reasonable treatment, he said.
The case has received extensive media coverage in Taiwan and many people went online to criticize the duo, saying they had brought shame and derision that had tainted the Taiwanese community of online streamers and digital content creators.
“It was a world-class embarrassment for Taiwan,” one wrote.
SCENARIOS: A potential conflict with Beijing would not be similar to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China would target energy and food supplies, a researcher said China is likely to continue using economic and cyberoperations against Taiwan to force it to capitulate without resorting to a military attack, Fox News reported yesterday, citing the outcome of a tabletop exercise. Washington-based think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) earlier this month held a tabletop exercise in Taipei focusing on Beijing’s use of economic and cybercoercion against Taiwan. The FDD mentioned an “anaconda strategy,” in which Beijing would likely use cyberwarfare and disinformation campaigns followed by a blockade or other measures to strangulate Taiwan, rather than attempting an invasion, the report said. A large-scale cyberattack would be
HSINCHU CASES: Five people among 35 who were reported being sick were still in hospital after eating at a vendor in a market in Jhubei, the local health agency said Thirty-five people have sought medical treatment for acute symptoms after allegedly eating banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) from a vendor in Jhubei City (竹北), the Hsinchu County Public Health Bureau said yesterday. The bureau said that since Saturday, it has received several reports of suspected food poisoning from hospitals. The vendor has been ordered to temporarily suspend its business, it said, adding that tests were being conducted to determine whether the people had food poisoning, with results expected in about two weeks. A preliminary investigation showed that the people who sought treatment had recently eaten banh mi at a vendor at a retail market
GOOD MODEL: Speaking at his book launch, Law said that Taiwan is the most democratic Chinese-speaking country, which is why Hong Kongers relocated here China has suffocated Hong Kong’s civil society and its next target could be Taiwan, Nathan Law (羅冠聰), cofounder of the disbanded pro-democracy Hong Kong political party Demosisto, said in Taipei yesterday. Law made the remarks at a launch in Taipei for his book When the Wind Blows — the Struggles for Freedom of Hong Kong (時代推著我們前行:羅冠聰的香港備忘錄). Law has been living in the UK since he fled Hong Kong in 2020, and the book is about his fighting for the cause of freedom in the area. He was granted political asylum in 2021. “Fleeing is a long and distressing process, but it also
IMITATING OTHERS? Tsai Ing-wen’s office said the former president rents a commercial unit for her personal office and had never used election funds to purchase real estate Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday confirmed that he used about NT$43 million (US$1.35 million) from his presidential election subsidy to purchase an office unit near the Legislative Yuan in May. Ko made the remarks after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) earlier in the day told a news conference that she received a tip-off that the TPP chairman had purchased a 48.76 ping (161.2m2) office unit at Jinan Building (濟南大樓), a commercial building in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正). Lin said that Ko purchased the unit on May 10, paying about NT$43 million in cash,