Vice speaker paid ransom

Taichung police said yesterday that Chang Hung-nien (張宏年) -- the Taichung City Council vice speaker, who was abducted on Monday and was released on Thursday -- actually paid NT$50 million to the kidnappers.

He also said the abduction was not just a "misunderstanding," as he repeatedly told the media yesterday evening.

On Oct. 1, Chang was kidnapped by local gangsters Hsueh Chiu (薛球) and Chen Yi-hua (陳益華), both 35, at his residence in Taichung City. Police said the two pointed at Chang with their handguns and demanded the vice speaker get into their black Mercedes-Benz car around 8pm. Chang was having a barbecue with his wife and some friends as they celebrated the Moon Festival.

The kidnappers called Chang's wife around 8:45pm that evening and asked for a ransom for the kidnapped vice speaker of NT$300 million -- the largest ransom requested in Taiwan's history.

In response to the high-profile abduction, Taichung City Police Bureau Director Chang Ching-yu (張慶裕) immediately established a special investigation team on Monday night. The Director-general of the National Police Administration Wang Ginn-wang (王進旺) also arrived in Taichung City on Wednesday to supervise the investigation.

On Thursday, Chang returned home by taxi around 5pm after being kidnapped for three days. He later hold a press conference held at the request of the media that the abduction was just a "misunderstanding."

According to Chang, he was not the target of the abductors. He said that he was freed without paying a ransom after the abductors realized that they kidnapped the wrong person.

Taichung police, however, said that the whole case was indeed an abduction. Chang's family actually bargained with the abductors over the price and eventually paid a ransom of NT$50 million on Thursday afternoon for his release.

According to police, Chang earlier said that he was kidnapped by the two and was locked in an apartment in a rural area near Taichung City.

He also revealed that there were at least seven or eight other gangsters at the apartment.

Local media reported that one of Chang's friends recently lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the "liu ho tsai (六合彩)," a popular gambling-lottery that was established some 10 years ago. The vice speaker might therefore have become a target after he promised to "take care of the business" for his friend.

Both the Tien Tao Meng (天道盟) and Bamboo Union (竹聯幫) -- the nation's two largest criminal gangs -- were also involved, according to local media.

Both Hsueh and Chen are currently wanted for their involvement in a shooting incident in Miaoli County and more than 10 robberies in central Taiwan. The two in September also kidnapped the son of a legislator in Changhua County who was later released after the legislator paid them NT$30 million.

Police are carrying out an ongoing investigation into the above cases.

Chang, 49, is from a political dynasty in Taichung City. His father, Chang Kuang-yi (張光儀), is leader of a local political faction and has previously been a vice speaker of the Taichung City Council in the past. Chang, encouraged by his father, is planning to run for the speaker next year.