President Chen Shui-bian (
"The public has to respect the result because the task force spent more than one year looking for clues, including witnesses. I myself respect the judicial investigation report, which was carried out professionally, objectively and independently," Chen said.
Lu said that she had said after the shooting that there was only one way to convince people, and that was solid evidence.
"I will respond further to the result after I read through the whole report," she said.
Lien reacts
Meanwhile, outgoing Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (
Speaking sarcastically, he called the development a "big gift" for him just as he steps down from the KMT chairmanship. He said the KMT would discover the truth for the people and the country some day and that he believed the truth about the March 19 shooting incident would be revealed eventually.
Lien steps down from the chairmanship post tomorrow.
"The DPP [Democratic Progressive Party] government has closed the case, in which the suspect is a dead man. This is not only absurd but also a big joke on democratic politics," Lien said.
People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) also does not accept the result, according to PFP Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀), who relayed Soong's comments.
Soong is overseas now.
"When I talked to him on the telephone last night, Chairman James Soong said he found it unacceptable that prosecutors planned to close the investigation," Chang said.
Chang added that the PFP would join forces with the KMT to push for the establishment of a second March 19 Shooting Truth Investigation Special Committee in the next legislative session.
If the DPP thought the case would be closed after Lien steps down, they were mistaken, Chang said.
Branding the closure of investigation as "political," KMT caucus whip Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源) said that it is clear that there was interference in the case.
Cho also criticized the closure of the investigation as "crude," "ridiculous" and "irresponsible." "We are here to guarantee to the public that we will continue our efforts to find the truth in the mysterious case," he said. "I'm also calling on those who know anything about the case to come forward and become Taiwan's `Deep Throat.'"
Cho cast doubts on the evidence used in the case.
With the suspect dead, no weapon, no testimony from the suspect and no account of how the crime was committed, Cho said the Code of Criminal Procedure (
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Jao Yung-ching (趙永清) said that his caucus would agree to the establishment of a second March 19 investigation committee.
He stipulated, however, that statute governing the committee would have to be amended first in response to a ruling made by the Council of Grand Justices.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (
"Many professional figures joined the investigation and reached a conclusion in the case. Hopefully people will trust their specialized knowledge just as they trust a doctor's opinion, and put aside disputes over the shooting case and move on," Su said.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
RSS