A policeman in Pingtung County recently tracked down the grave of a Catholic missionary from Germany at the behest of his family members, who were never fully convinced by reports that the priest had died there in 1963.
Tien Hsiang Chen-ling (田項榛林), a member of the Chaojhou Township (潮州) police department, was assigned to the case after a request from Sebastian Heuken’s family, who wanted any documents that could prove the priest’s death.
Heuken’s younger brother Karl said the priest worked at a Catholic church in Chaojhou upon his arrival in Taiwan in 1960.
Karl said his brother reportedly died in a traffic accident and was buried in the small town, but he questioned the report’s accuracy because he never received a death certificate.
Tien Hsiang said it was the most difficult case he had investigated because there were few clues indicating the priest ever existed.
“I could find nothing at local household offices, other police stations and traffic police divisions,” the policeman said.
After turning to local churches, he finally discovered that the missionary’s remains were buried at a Chaojhou church cemetery. Heuken’s tombstone was engraved with Chinese characters reading “the tomb of Father Ho Li-chien” and his German name.
Tien Hsiang said he also visited an 86-year-old Catholic nun from Switzerland in Pingtung’s Jiadong Township (佳冬) who had worked with Heuken to gain first-hand information about the accident that led to Heuken’s death.
Germana Rotzetter told him that on the day of the tragedy, she and Heuken were riding motorbikes on Provincial Highway No. 1 when Heuken collided with an oncoming cargo truck, the policeman said. Rotzetter said that she sent for help, but when it came, it was too late.
Tien Hsiang said he found out that Heuken’s personal effects and his death certificate had been kept for a period at a parish in Donggang, but were eventually destroyed.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
RSS