Authorities investigating the election-eve shooting of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) have questioned 34 members of the security force responsible for protecting the president, an investigator said yesterday.
Officials couldn't make public what was discussed in the interviews and who was questioned because the information could affect the investigation, said Yen Jong-sung, an official involved in the probe.
"The time and place of the interviews, I also can't discuss publicly," Yen said,
Chen and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), were shot one day before they were re-elected in the March 20 vote. They were lightly wounded while driving past crowds in an open top Jeep in the southern city of Tainan. No suspects have been identified, and officials haven't announced any solid leads.
However, investigators on Friday released video tape from a security camera that showed a man in a yellow jacket hurrying away from the shooting scene. Officials urged the man -- who wasn't named as a suspect -- to report to police for questioning.
People unfamiliar with a Taiwanese election parade may believe it was unusual that people at the scene said they didn't see the shooter and didn't hear the gunshots, but as there were thousands of firecrackers being set off by Chen's supporters within feet of the presidential motorcade, it may not be so unusual after all, one foreign reporter said.
Yen told reporters last Sunday that Chen's supporters were igniting strings of celebratory fireworks as the president drove by and this made it difficult to spot the shooter.
"At the time, there was so much smoke from the firecrackers, even the car's driver couldn't see much of the road in front of him," said Yen, chief prosecutor in Tainan County.
"The sound of the firecrackers was so loud that all other sounds couldn't be heard," he added.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it