The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) yesterday ruled out the possibility the assassination attempt on President Chen Shui-bian (
Bureau commissioner Hou You-yi (
Chen received a gash across his stomach and Vice President Annette Lu (
"It is impossible that the assassination attempt was orchestrated because the car was moving and no marksman could have this kind of shooting technique," Hou told reporters, adding that the open-topped jeep was travelling at 30kph.
Senior officers told reporters in Taipei they would leave "no stone unturned" in their investigation. But the special police unit set up to investigate the case still had no specific suspect despite having interviewed about 400 witnesses, checked photographs and video footage from the scene and carried out detailed ballistics investigations.
Police also said that DNA analysis proved blood found on the two bullets belonged to Chen and Lu.
Judy Cheng of the CIB told reporters the videotapes showed two shots were fired at Chen and Lu somewhere along a 50m stretch of the road where two bullet shells were found.
Video footage and witness accounts revealed Chen had started feeling ill within 50m.
Chen said he first believed he had been hit by a firecracker when he felt a sharp pain in his belly.
"I bore the pain and continued waving to my supporters as the motorcade proceeded,"Chen said yesterday. in his first public comments about the shooting.
He only realized he had been shot when the bodyguard told him he was bleeding, he saw Lu's bloody knee and spotted the bullet hole in the windscreen.
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
DEMAND: The government should enact regulations in line with Austria and Germany to incorporate vegan nutrition into school meals, an advocate said More than 1,000 people yesterday marched in Taipei to promote veganism, calling for legislation to incorporate vegan diets into school lunches and the national net zero emissions program. Participants gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building for the march, which was organized by the Vegan Action Network (VAN). Former ambassador to Chad Chiu Chung-jen (邱仲仁), actor Yankee Yang (楊子儀) and actress Cindy Lien (連俞涵) attended the event. VAN member Marianne Chao (趙梅君) said that the campaign aimed to urge the government to promote vegan diets across schools and government agencies via legislation and national policies, which would help build
RSS