The Taipei District Court yesterday sentenced Lin Chang-cheng (
Twenty thousand people were evacuated from the shopping venue when the fire broke out on Feb. 18 this year.
Another two suspects, Wang Lin-kwun (
Wang is a close friend of Lin Chang-cheng's and owned a shop selling Chinese teapots on the mall's seventh floor. Lin Ching-chi is Wang's uncle.
According to the verdict, Lin Chang-cheng was upset with Core Pacific Group Chairman Shen Ching-ching's (
The verdict also says that Lin Chang-cheng then lured Wang to take part in the arson by offering him NT$100,000, and that they initially planned to destroy the mall's power system by means of a fire during business hours.
The court's findings say Wang invited his uncle Lin Ching-chi to start the fire.
According to the court, Lin Ching-chi filled empty mineral-water bottles with gasoline and set them alight in the electricity room on the mall's third floor.
"Lin Chang-cheng ignored public safety by masterminding the arson because of his personal problems at work and invited Wang and Lin Ching-chi to join the plan. Both Lin Ching-chi and Wang showed remorse for their crimes after they were arrested. So the court issued a four-year sentence for Lin Chang-cheng and three years and eight months for both Wang and Lin Ching-chi," said a court spokesman.
An unnamed Core Pacific official yesterday was quoted as saying that the damage to the company's reputation had been greater than its financial losses.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
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