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.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and