A Taipei County politician was gunned down in his office yesterday in what police believe was a cold-blooded assassination by gangsters seeking to protect an extortion racket.
Taipei County Councilor Wu Shan-jeou (吳善九) of the People First Party (PFP) was shot dead in his office in Sindian (新店), Taipei County, shortly before noon yesterday.
Witnesses said that a suspect rushed into Wu's office and fired five shots from a pistol, four of which struck the lawmaker.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TAIPEI COUNTY COUNCIL
"Wu and two of his assistants were in his office in Sindian yesterday morning," Taipei County Police Department Vice Commissioner Wang Yu-kang (
"At 11:12am a man suddenly rushed into the office, asked one of the assistants `Is the councilor here?' and then strode into Wu's office and shot him," Wang said.
"Wu was hit by four shots to his chest and his left arm and he fell down on the floor amid lots of blood," Wang said.
The vice commissioner added that the suspect left the site via scooter soon thereafter. Wu's terrified assistants reported the murder to the police, Wang said.
Wu was rushed to a nearby hospital, but doctors pronounced him dead at 1:08pm.
Wang said the suspect was about 175cm tall, spoke Mandarin and remained calm during the murder.
Security cameras nearby that filmed the suspect showed the assassin wearing a helmet and sunglasses, so his face was not clearly visible. He drove up on a scooter and stopped by a building near Wu's office, then pulled out a pistol before walking up the stairs to Wu's second floor office, the footage showed.
Police suspect that Wu's assassination was related to his having prevented gangsters from using illegal front companies to obtain government contracts in the county.
Sindian City Councilor Chou Zhih-ping (
Chou said he suspected that Wu's murder had something to do with gangsters' involvement in environmental construction projects.
The Taipei County Government has proposed an environmental clean-up of the largest river in the area, the Sindian River, and many companies are vying for projects related to the clean-up, as well as for contracts to dig sand and gravel out of the riverbed in order to deepen it.
Vice Commissioner Wang said police were probing whether gangsters had been involved in the awarding of contracts for the clean-up project, and whether Wu's death was related to the project.
Meanwhile, pan-blue lawmakers were quick to turn the murder into a political issue.
The PFP yesterday demanded that the police solve the murder and catch the killer within one week.
PFP legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (
"If [the crime is not solved in a week], Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) has to step down to take responsibility," Fu said, adding that the shooting had boosted the party's determination to oust Chang.
In another setting, Criminal Investigation Bureau Deputy Commissioner Chen Yi-feng (陳逸峰) said it was inappropriate to ask the police to solve a case by a specific date.
"There are procedures that we have to go through during an investigation. The most important thing is to collect comprehensive evidence," Chen said.
PFP Legislator Lee Fu-tien (李復甸) called on the legislature to revise the Statute Regulating Firearms, Ammunition, Knives and Other Deadly Weapons (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例) to enhance the punishment for the possession of firearms.
"I suspect that the shooting was in connection with Wu's long-term efforts to confront illegal interests involved in the gravel businesses," PFP Legislator Feng Ting-kuo (
Feng said there were a lot of "hidden goings-on" in the gravel business, as underground gangs cast covetous eyes on the potentially lucrative industry.
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
RSS