The deputy chairman of the Jenlan Temple (
"Police suspect that the Lin Ming-wha (
He said police did not believe that notorious fugitive gangster Chang Hsi-ming (
PHOTO: WANG YI-CHE, TAIPEI TIMES
Although Cheng's family was rumored to have paid a NT$25,000,000 (US$800,000) ransom, the family denies paying any such fee, the police said.
Cheng told police that the kidnappers did not abuse him. They gave him food, and let him take a shower several times during the 10-day ordeal. Tsai said Cheng is in good health.
According to police, late on the night of June 1, Cheng left his residence by scooter to go visit friends. Twenty minutes later, Cheng's wife received a phone call from one of the kidnappers, asking for a NT$100 million ransom payment.
Police said that after receiving immediate notification from the family, they found Cheng's scooter knocked over on a road near his residence.
Cheng told police a car intentionally hit him, and that kidnappers than put him in the car and took him to a house. He was kept tied up -- with his eyes and mouth covered -- for most of the next 10 days.
Cheng told police the kidnappers told him to pay up his debt of NT$8 million, but Cheng responded that he didn't owe anyone money.
On Friday night, Cheng was driven by car to Kaohsiung County and released. Cheng went home yesterday morning by himself.
Local newspapers said Cheng and Yen Ching-piao (顏清標), the chairman of Jenlan Temple in Tachia, Taichung County and also a legislator, have a very close relationship.
Both Yen and Cheng have criminal records. They were charged with forgery and breach of trust for misappropriating property from Jenlan Temple, and the case is still under investigation.
Local newspapers said that during the kidnapping, Yen and another unidentified person tried to bypass the police in order to communicate directly with the kidnappers.
Chinese-language newspapers have alleged that they tapped gang connections to rescue Cheng. Cheng's family paid a ransom, but they did not want police to investigate, because shady business disputes may have been connected to the kidnapping, the reports said.
One report said that police were bothered by the way "gang members dealt with other gang members."
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS