KMT Taipei City Councilor Chen Chin-chi (
Lee Chien-hsian (
TAIPEI TIMES FILE PHOTO
"He did not have any pulse when he was sent here at around 1:10pm. We were sorry to announce his death after the two hours of emergency treatment," Lee said.
"He was shot four times, ? twice in the left arm, once in the left of his chest and another time in the right of his stomach. Damage to his heart, left lung and liver was the main cause of his death," he said.
Police said that Chen went to Taipei's Taoyuan Restaurant for a wedding lunch for his friend's daughter. Chen arrived at the restaurant at around 12:50pm.
While he was walking into the restaurant, a gunman wearing a motorcycle helmet and dark clothes opened fire with a pistol. The gunmen immediately fled with another suspect who also wore a motorcycle helmet and dark clothing and was waiting on a stolen scooter with the engine running.
The shooting lasted only a few seconds. Chen was then rushed to hospital.
"According to our initial investigation, we are looking for at least two suspects. However, our clues are limited because both suspects' faces were covered by their helmets.
"In addition, we have discovered that their scooter, with license plate number CAD-495, was reported stolen in Tienmu on Nov. 14," Taipei City Police Department Commissioner Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞) said.
Chen had just celebrated his 41st birthday six days ago and was campaigning for his third term as councilor for Peitou and Shihlin.
Police said they are investigating possible motives.
"We are considering a political motive, and also whether Chen had links with organized crime. But I do not have any further details to make public at this moment," Wang added.
The police chief said at a press conference yesterday that 32 officers from the Criminal Investigation Corp (
However, Chen told the officer protecting him that there was no need to stay with him yesterday since he was only attending a wedding lunch.
"I am really sorry for this tragedy," Wang said. "In the meantime, we are trying to find out whether the suspects knew that the police officer was not with Chen, giving them the opportunity to shoot him."
Wang said that city police headquarters will ask these 32 officers to stay with the candidates at all times.
Chinese-language television stations linked the death to disputes between local gangs who had fought over windfall profits from certain construction projects.
RESILIENCE: Taiwan plays a key role in semiconductors, energy, information infrastructure and advanced manufacturing, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan’s continued investment in deterrence and resilience remains vital, especially in uncrewed systems and other emerging technologies, American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene said yesterday. Greene made the remarks at the annual National Strategic Summit on Supply Chain Resilience held by the Research Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET), a government-backed think tank. As Taiwan last year became the US’ fourth-largest trading partner and supply chain security is becoming more important, cooperation in emerging technologies continues to deepen between the two countries, he said. The US is committed to accelerating innovation, building key infrastructure, strengthening cooperation
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
RIGHT DIRECTION: Taiwan’s efforts to prevent forced labor include a proposal to ‘fully prohibit’ employers from withholding workers’ documents, an official said Taiwan is to establish a mechanism to restrict imports of goods linked to forced labor, the Executive Yuan said yesterday, after the US proposed imposing additional tariffs on Taiwanese goods over labor concerns. “The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are to establish an interministerial review procedure,” Executive Yuan spokesperson Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “The government is to use the Foreign Trade Act [貿易法] as the legal basis to restrict imports of goods produced with forced labor” and bring its supply chain governance more in line with international standards on human rights, resilience
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is