The director-general of the National Police Agency, Hou You-yi (
Hou said police have identified a suspect who will be arrested soon.
Hou made the remarks in response to reporters' questions after Legislator Huang Chao-shun (
Earlier yesterday, Legislator Lee Chen-nan (
Lee said the bullet was from a rifle, the kind of weapon that could penetrate a normal bullet-proof vest. If the letter was not a joke, he said, it was a very serious matter.
Besides Huang and Lee, four other lawmakers have received similar letters, including Hsieh Hsin-ni (
Lee pointed out that in addition to himself, six other lawmakers received similar letters at the same time yesterday. Saying that the sender of the threatening mail was too bold to respect the law. Lee urged police to solve the case as soon as possible.
According to the police, the threatening letters have been sent by a single individual -- likely a political fanatic dissatisfied with the country's current political situation -- because the Chinese characters on the letters appear to have come from the same printer.
The threatening letters triggered safety concerns among lawmakers that surfaced following the death of Taipei County Councilor Wu Shan-jeou (吳善九) of the People First Party, who was shot several times by a lone gunman at his office in Taipei County on May 23.
Before the gangland-style killing, Wu had also received a threatening letter containing a bullet.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon