The man who allegedly made the suitcase explosive devices that were planted on a moving high-speed train and outside a legislator’s office said yesterday that it was the “poor state of society” that prompted him to make the devices.
During questioning at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office, Hu Tsung-hsien (胡宗賢) admitted to making the devices, but contended that they would not have exploded, investigators said.
They quoted Hu as saying that the bombs were only meant to “scare” the public and that he did not have specific targets.
Photo: CNA
One of the devices was planted in a toilet on a high-speed train bound for Taipei and the other was left outside Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Chia-chen’s (盧嘉辰) office in Tucheng District (土城), New Taipei City (新北市).
Chu Ya-tung (朱亞東), a suspected accomplice in the failed bombing attempts, told the investigators that he was paid by Hu to purchase the suitcases and later left them at locations that Hu designated.
Hu also directed him to purchase a silver Mitsubishi minivan that was registered to another individual, surnamed Lai (賴), Chu said.
The vehicle was then used to transport the explosives.
Chu said he did not know there were explosives in the suitcases.
He said he “felt weird” after leaving the suitcases on the high-speed train and that he stumbled when putting the other two suitcases outside the legislator’s office because he panicked.
Investigators added that Hu, a lawyer, and Chu, a taxi driver, had some kind of employer-employee relationship.
They said Chu had borrowed money from Hu from time to time and that before the bombing attempts, Hu had promised Chu more than NT$100,000 (US$3,350) per month if Chu would work for him.
The two men, both in their 40s, fled to China’s Guangdong Province on Friday on one-way tickets soon after allegedly planting the devices. Hu also took with him more than NT$1 million in cash, the investigators said.
They were repatriated to Taiwan on Tuesday with the help of the Chinese authorities and held incommunicado.
Fang Nan-shan (方南山), Hu’s lawyer, said that he would appeal against the incommunicado ruling.
Fang said his client had answered all the questions put to him and there would be no risk of him colluding on testimony if he was released on bail.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man