The Taipei District Court yesterday rejected the prosecution's request to detain a former agent of the Investigation Bureau who was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly sending threatening mails to the first family and a number of legislators and government officials.
Yang Ching-hai (楊清海), 58, was released last night on NT$100,000 bail. He was arrested on Tuesday at his residence in Taipei County, where police also found two pistols and 45 bullets.
Police said that Yang had sent a postcard threatening to sexually assault President Chen Shui-bian's (
Taipei District Prosecutors' Office spokesman Lin Ching-tsun (
Yang's girlfriend, Ting Yi-chih (
Lin said Yang and Ting would be charged with threatening and obstructing a person's safety. Yang would also be charged with violating the Guns, Explosives and Knives Control Act.
Police said that in addition to threatening the first family, since 2005 Yang had also sent threatening letters to Ministry of Education Secretary-General Chuang Kuo-rong (莊國榮) and more than 30 legislators, elected officials and government officials.
They said Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (
Approached by reporters on his way from a jail in Taipei to the prosecutors' office, Yang denied threatening the president, but acknowledged having sent the parcels containing bullets.
"I just wanted lawmakers to do more for the public," he said. "Lawmakers and media are the two sources of chaos in society."
The bureau said in a statement on Tuesday that Yang left his job at the bureau in 1988 and that it had no information about his activities since that time.
Prosecutors said late last night they had filed an appeal for Yang's detention.
Additional reporting by CNA and AP
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative