Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday.
The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday.
ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa.
Photo: Screen grab from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Web site
The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said.
Liou was taken into custody during an operation on Jan. 23, it added.
ERO Boston Field Office Director Patricia Hyde said: “Arresting this foreign fugitive and criminal alien underscores the importance of our collaboration with local law enforcement to safeguard public safety and uphold the integrity of our immigration system.”
Liou had entered the US lawfully on a temporary visitor’s visa on May 2019, but failed to depart by her required exit date in August the same year, ICE said.
Liou is to remain in the custody of the ERO until her “removal” from the US, which the CIB estimates would be some time next month, it added.
The CIB said it had assisted ICE in the arrest by providing information on Liou.
Liou, whose looks and revealing attire caught the eyes of Taiwanese media and earned her the nickname “Sunflower Queen” during the Sunflower movement in 2014, had allegedly introduced Taiwanese women to a prostitution ring in the US in 2015.
She was barred from leaving Taiwan a decade ago for her involvement in the suspected cross-border ring. Liou’s name was subsequently covered in a negative light by Taiwanese media for her alleged involvement in embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes.
Liou became a wanted criminal by the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office in 2023 for failing to appear in court.
Due to her status as a fugitive of New Taipei City, the CIB said she would be turned over to the custody of the city’s prosecutors, who would then determine which of her alleged crimes she would have to first stand trial for.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
‘POOP ON STAGE’: The song, which talks about the reluctance to graduate and anxiety about a lack of job opportunities, resonated with many students’ feelings The original song Poop on Stage has been chosen as National Taiwan University’s (NTU) graduation song this year, sparking much debate regarding the song’s title and content, which describes students’ anxiety about post-graduation unemployment. The title, Shang Tai Da Bian (上台大便), is a play on words that literally means “go on stage to poop.” The first three characters, shang tai da (上台大), also mean “to attend NTU,” as “Taida” is a common abbreviation for the university. The last character, bian (便), can mean “convenient” or “then,” but is more commonly associated with defecation. The lyrics of the song describe students’ reluctance to graduate and
RSS