Sean Lien (連勝文), one of former vice president Lien Chan’s (連戰) sons, was shot last night as he was campaigning for a Sinbei councilor candidate in Yonghe (永和), Taipei County. He was hit in the face and was rushed to National Taiwan University Hospital.
Yonghe police precinct said a 29-year-old man was also shot at the rally, but died on the way to a hospital.
In a press briefing at 10:05pm, the hospital said Sean Lien, was still undergoing surgery, but was not in a life-threatening situation. He was conscious when he arrived at the hospital, officials said.
Witnesses said a man burst onto the stage at Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) councilor candidate Chen Hung-yuan’s (陳鴻源) rally and fired a shot at Sean Lien shortly after he took the stage and as he was about to address the crowd. The bullet hit the left side of his face, eyewitnesses said.
A man named Lin Cheng-wei (林正偉) was quickly apprehended by police. The motive for the shooting is under investigation.
Pan-green politicans condemned the shooting, while KMT politicians condemned it as “election violence.”
Lien Chan joined Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin’s (郝龍斌) rally after visiting his son at the hospital. Choking back tears as he discussed his son, Lien Chan urged supporters to support Hau and the KMT’s other mayoral candidates.
“My son is in the hospital right now and the condition is unknown. I will say no more. May God bless Taiwan and the public,” he said.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who doubles as KMT chairman, later walked onto the stage amid cheers from the crowd. Ma pledged to fight against such an “unforgettable example of violence.”
Late last night, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei mayoral candidate Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) held a press conference to condemn violence, “at any time and any place.”
“We are praying for the victims,” he said. “We understand that the police have already arrested a suspect and ask them to release the truth about the incident immediately.”
However, he said political parties should avoid trying to take advantage out of the shootings, adding that he hoped “society can return to normal as soon as possible.”
DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), a mayoral candidate for Sinbei City, also denounced the shootings, saying she “condemned all forms of violence” and urging supporters to remain calm and rational for today’s elections.
Labeling the shootings gang-related, Tsai said they were a “tremendous shock to everyone.”
She wished Sean Lien a fast recovery and offered her condolences to the Lien family and the family of the other victim.
The Taipei Times has learned that immediately following the shootings, government agencies began to deliver bullet-proof vests to the mayoral candidates, but it was not clear as of press time whether the candidates for councilor and borough chief posts were also getting vests.
Sean Lien is deputy director of Taipei City’s Economic Development Commission, and member of the KMT's Central Committee.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STAFF WRITER
This report has been updated since it was first published.
AGING: As of last month, people aged 65 or older accounted for 20.06 percent of the total population and the number of couples who got married fell by 18,685 from 2024 Taiwan has surpassed South Korea as the country least willing to have children, with an annual crude birthrate of 4.62 per 1,000 people, Ministry of the Interior data showed yesterday. The nation was previously ranked the second-lowest country in terms of total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime. However, South Korea’s fertility rate began to recover from 2023, with total fertility rate rising from 0.72 and estimated to reach 0.82 to 0.85 by last year, and the crude birthrate projected at 6.7 per 1,000 people. Japan’s crude birthrate was projected to fall below six,
US President Donald Trump in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday said that “it’s up to” Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be “very unhappy” with a change in the “status quo.” “He [Xi] considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing, but I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that. I hope he doesn’t do that,” Trump said. Trump made the comments in the context
SELF-DEFENSE: Tokyo has accelerated its spending goal and its defense minister said the nation needs to discuss whether it should develop nuclear-powered submarines China is ramping up objections to what it sees as Japan’s desire to acquire nuclear weapons, despite Tokyo’s longstanding renunciation of such arms, deepening another fissure in the two neighbors’ increasingly tense ties. In what appears to be a concerted effort, China’s foreign and defense ministries issued statements on Thursday condemning alleged remilitarism efforts by Tokyo. The remarks came as two of the country’s top think tanks jointly issued a 29-page report framing actions by “right-wing forces” in Japan as posing a “serious threat” to world peace. While that report did not define “right-wing forces,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was
PREPAREDNESS: Given the difficulty of importing ammunition during wartime, the Ministry of National Defense said it would prioritize ‘coproduction’ partnerships A newly formed unit of the Marine Corps tasked with land-based security operations has recently replaced its aging, domestically produced rifles with more advanced, US-made M4A1 rifles, a source said yesterday. The unnamed source familiar with the matter said the First Security Battalion of the Marine Corps’ Air Defense and Base Guard Group has replaced its older T65K2 rifles, which have been in service since the late 1980s, with the newly received M4A1s. The source did not say exactly when the upgrade took place or how many M4A1s were issued to the battalion. The confirmation came after Chinese-language media reported
RSS