A former China Times employee was hauled in for questioning yesterday for allegedly calling seven foreign representative offices and threatening their diplomats on April 16, warning them not to attend President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration on May 20.
Hsieh Hung-yi (謝宏毅), 42, had been a proofreader for the Chinese-language newspaper but was laid off last December, the National Police Administration's Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday.
He was arrested at his Panchiao residence on Tuesday afternoon and was released last night.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
The police said he initially denied the allegations but admitted to the crime yesterday morning.
"Hsieh is an educated man who graduated from National Taiwan University's History Department. He told us that he committed the crime because he hates the Chen administration as he lost a lot of money on the stock market," CIB Commissioner Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said.
When approached by reporters at the CIB, Hsieh was still denying allegations he threatened the diplomats.
"I did not blackmail them," Hsieh said. "I simply hoped that they would not join the inauguration."
Police are investigating whether Hsieh was acting on orders from Beijing.
Hsieh married a Chinese woman a few years ago but the marriage ended in divorce.
He married another Chinese woman last year. The police investigation showed that he came back from China on April 7.
Hsieh allegedly called the American Institute in Taiwan as well as six embassies -- those of Panama, Dominica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica and El Salvador -- and threatened embassy employees, telling them their ambassadors would be assassinated if they attend Chen's inauguration.
The embassies reported the calls to police and said their diplomats will join the inauguration as planned.
The CIB spotted Hsieh's name by reviewing phone records, discovering that he made calls to the embassies from the Hsinpu and Hsimen MRT stations.
"With the help of community security video systems, we finally located him near Wenhua Road in Panchiao, Taipei County," said Chen Che-wen (
Police transferred Hsieh to the Taipei District Prosecutors' Office after a short interrogation at the CIB.
Prosecutors applied to the Taipei District Court to detain Hsieh, but the court said the case was a matter for the High Court to decide.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source