Famed romance novelist Chiung Yao (瓊瑤) was found dead in an apparent suicide at 86 years old, two days after pop culture icon Steven Liu (劉家昌) died of cancer at age 83, sources said.
Police found the writer dead of an apparent suicide in an apartment in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) after receiving a call at 1:22pm from one of Chiung’s in-laws, a New Taipei City Police Department spokesperson said yesterday.
Officers did not summon medics after deeming Chiung impossible to resuscitate, they said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Chiung’s family told investigators that the son of the novelist received a note addressed to his wife’s secretary, which he sent unopened, the spokesperson said.
Realizing that the document was a suicide note, the daughter-in-law reportedly rushed to Chiung’s residence to find that she had died, they said.
Chiung had for many decades been the leading romance author in Taiwanese popular literature, writing best-selling novels and screenplays, and producing shows.
File Photo: Taipei Times
In 2017, Chiung came out as a supporter of assisted dying, writing in a Facebook post that her husband’s long struggle with illness demonstrated the necessity for a humane end to life.
Separately yesterday, Liu’s family in a statement said the veteran entertainer had died on Monday after battling cancer.
Liu, nicknamed the “grandfather of Chinese-language pop music,” sang, composed, acted and directed numerous works throughout his long career in Taiwan and Hong Kong.
The family requested the public respect their privacy as they wished to mourn in peace.
“Thank you for your consideration and understanding. We also ask that friends from the media give us space so that we can quietly mourn,” they said.
Liu was credited with composing many classic songs for stars, including Unforgettable Past by You Ya (尤雅), On the West Tower Alone by Teresa Teng (鄧麗君), Promise by Liu Wen-cheng (劉文正) and Sea Gull by Weng Qian-yu (翁倩玉).
‘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 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
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS