Malaysian police yesterday said the Philippines’ Abu Sayyaf militant Islamist group was believed to be behind the killing of a Taiwanese tourist and the kidnapping of his wife.
Unidentified gunmen shot dead 57-year-old Hsu Li-min (許立民) and kidnapped his female companion, 58-year-old Chang An-wei (張安薇), early on Friday on Pom Pom Island, a popular scuba diving location in the eastern state of Sabah on Borneo Island.
The incident — in a remote part that was rocked earlier this year by a bloody Philippine militant incursion — has underlined continued threats in the region despite a Malaysian security clampdown.
Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said Abu Sayyaf was suspected to be behind the attack.
“We believe the terrorists were able to slip in because there has been a big mobilization of resources of the Philippine armed forces from the country’s south to the north to help out in relief work for victims of Super Typhoon Haiyan,” he was quoted by national news agency Bernama as saying.
Khalid added the attackers were believed to have come in a group of eight in a speedboat.
Authorities are still trying to find the kidnapped woman with help from their Philippine counterparts, he said.
Local authorities said yesterday that Chang is likely still alive, but her armed captors may have taken her to an island off the Philippines.
Funded by the late al-Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden in the 1990s, Abu Sayyaf has targeted foreigners with kidnappings for ransom and has been accused of most of the Philippines’ deadliest insurgent attacks.
The southern Philippines is just a short boat ride away from Sabah’s east coast.
Meanwhile, Sabah Police Commissioner Hamza Taib said Hsu’s body has been sent to a nearby hospital for an autopsy.
Police are continuing to gather information from the other tourists at the resort, who reportedly have not left the island and will continue with their vacation plans. Chang and Hsu checked into the resort on Tuesday and were scheduled to check out on Wednesday this week.
Their family has asked Taiwan’s government for assistance.
Hsu Li-min’s elder brother, Hsu Li-jen (許立人), said he found it unbelievable that a shooting like this could take place at a popular tourist resort, urging Taiwan to help his family find justice.
The elder Hsu said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has conveyed the family’s wishes that Malaysian authorities not conduct an autopsy without the family present.
The family of the deceased is scheduled to travel to Malaysia tomorrow to put his affairs in order.
Additional reporting by CNA
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS