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Two businessmen slain in China

A disgruntled Chinese factory worker in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, fatally stabbed two of his Taiwanese employers on Monday and left a third critically injured, a Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday.

Liu Hanghuang (劉漢黃) stabbed Lin Yu-teng (林玉騰) and Shao Cheng-chi (邵正吉) to death and severely injured production manager Lai Cheng-jui (賴振瑞) at a metal factory, the report said.

Shao died at the scene and Lin was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a local hospital, local police said. The three men were from Taichung and were partners.

The United Evening News said Liu and Lai got into a shouting match at around 12:20pm when Liu confronted Lai at the factory entrance. Shao and Lin reportedly ran outside to try to break up the argument but were repeatedly stabbed by Lai.

Liu, a native of Guizhou, was hired as a machine operator last August. After working at the factory for more than a month, his right hand got caught in one of the machines and was severely injured. The hand was later amputated.

Police suspected the killing was fueled by Liu’s unhappiness with the compensation he received from the company for the loss of his hand. He reportedly had asked for 180,000 yuan (US$26,000), but only received half that amount.

The company continued to give him room and board although he had not worked since the accident.

A Chinese newspaper said Liu attempted suicide last Saturday by threatening to jump from a fifth-floor ledge at the factory.

Police reportedly negotiated with him for more than an hour before he agreed to leave the ledge on the condition that he could discuss his compensation claim face to face with his employers.

Lin’s older brother Lin Fu-chien (林富健), who was also in Dongguan, was quoted by the United Evening News as saying his brother was a decent man and he had died in vain because “he had nothing to do with this.”

The Straits Exchange Foundation said it would help family members of the dead and injured travel to China. It said that as soon as it learned of the incident on Monday night it asked its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS), for assistance.

The foundation also asked the Taiwan Businessmen Association in Dongguan (東莞台商協會) to offer any assistance.

ARATS has asked the Chinese authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident.

The foundation also said that people who find themselves in an emergency situation in China and need immediate help should call the 24-hour hot line at: 886-2-2712-9292.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KO SHU-LING
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