The Taiwanese godfather, Hsu Hai-ching (
At a dinner held in his honor at the Sovereign of the Seas restaurant in Taipei, 100 tables overflowed with representatives from underworld gangs and organized crime groups from as far away as Japan.
Although Hsu retired from underworld activity more than 30 years ago, his network of influence was readily apparent in the crowd of wellwishers, whose sartorial taste ran uniformly to black.
They included leaders of the Bamboo Union (
Well-known gangsters from southern Taiwan such as A-Yao (
Among the most visible were representatives of the Japanese crime group Yamaguchi-gumi (山口組).
Hsu was orphaned at a young age and entered gang life in his early teens in order to take care of his younger brother and sister. His slight build and quick hands soon earned him his nickname.
By his early twenties, Hsu had risen to become a gang leader in the Wanhua district of Taipei.
When the KMT retreated to Taiwan, their policy of using Taiwanese to govern Taiwanese led them to nominate Hsu in the elections for the first Taipei City council, despite his purported illiteracy.
Hsu was elected by a large margin, and although a dislike of politics led him to serve only one term in office, his political career enhanced his influence in his various enterprises, legitimate and otherwise.
By the 1950s, Hsu had become a tycoon of the "entertainment" industry, running numerous gambling parlors and hostess bars in the Wanhua district, where he also ran some general stores.
Hsu is also well-known in gang circles as a master arbitrator, having negotiated many underworld disputes.
He is particularly known for settling a bloody feud between two Kaohsiung gangs, the Seven Sages (七賢) and the Sandy Ground (沙仔地), thereby earning his other nickname, "the last arbitrator."
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
WAITING GAME: The US has so far only offered a ‘best rate tariff,’ which officials assume is about 15 percent, the same as Japan, a person familiar with the matter said Taiwan and the US have completed “technical consultations” regarding tariffs and a finalized rate is expected to be released soon, Executive Yuan spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) told a news conference yesterday, as a 90-day pause on US President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs is set to expire today. The two countries have reached a “certain degree of consensus” on issues such as tariffs, nontariff trade barriers, trade facilitation, supply chain resilience and economic security, Lee said. They also discussed opportunities for cooperation, investment and procurement, she said. A joint statement is still being negotiated and would be released once the US government has made
SOUTH CHINA SEA? The Philippine president spoke of adding more classrooms and power plants, while skipping tensions with China over disputed areas Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday blasted “useless and crumbling” flood control projects in a state of the nation address that focused on domestic issues after a months-long feud with his vice president. Addressing a joint session of congress after days of rain that left at least 31 dead, Marcos repeated his recent warning that the nation faced a climate change-driven “new normal,” while pledging to investigate publicly funded projects that had failed. “Let’s not pretend, the people know that these projects can breed corruption. Kickbacks ... for the boys,” he said, citing houses that were “swept away” by the floods. “Someone has
‘CRUDE’: The potential countermeasure is in response to South Africa renaming Taiwan’s representative offices and the insistence that it move out of Pretoria Taiwan is considering banning exports of semiconductors to South Africa after the latter unilaterally downgraded and changed the names of Taiwan’s two representative offices, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. On Monday last week, the South African Department of International Relations and Cooperation unilaterally released a statement saying that, as of April 1, the Taipei Liaison Offices in Pretoria and Cape Town had been renamed the “Taipei Commercial Office in Johannesburg” and the “Taipei Commercial Office in Cape Town.” Citing UN General Assembly Resolution 2758, it said that South Africa “recognizes the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as the sole