President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday applauded prosecutors and police for capturing two suspects alleged to have planted explosive devices on a high-speed rail train and outside a lawmaker’s office, and said he expected the police to be increasingly vigilant to ensure public safety.
“The bombings in Boston show that criminals are resorting to increasingly cruel measures, and the police must be more careful and cautious in handling different crimes,” Ma said in a post on his Facebook page.
The two prime suspects in the case, Hu Tsung-hsien (胡宗賢) and Chu Ya-tong (朱亞東), are alleged to have placed suitcases containing explosive devices on northbound high-speed rail train No. 616 and outside Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Chia-chen’s (盧嘉辰) office in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Tucheng District (土城) on Friday last week before boarding a plane to China.
The pair were detained in Zhuhai, in China’s Guangdong Province, and repatriated to Taiwan on Tuesday.
Ma visited the National Police Agency on Thursday to present awards to police who tracked down the suspects.
He yesterday applauded the police for cracking the case within four days, and praised the contribution of the Agreement on Joint Cross-Strait Crime-Fighting and Mutual Judicial Assistance in 2009 to solving the case.
“The assistance from the Ministry of Public Security in China also helped us crack the case very fast. I want to express my appreciation for their help,” Ma said.
Police should step-up security measures and pay greater attention to safety in public spaces, Ma added.
NEW AGREEMENT: Malaysia approved imports last year after nearly two years of negotiations and inspections to meet quarantine requirements, officials said Up to 3.6 tonnes of pomeloes from Taiwan cleared Malaysian customs on Friday, in the first shipment of Taiwanese pomeloes to Malaysia. Taiwan-grown pomeloes are popular in domestic and overseas markets for their tender and juicy taste, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency said. The fruit is already exported to Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, it added. The agency began applying for access to the Malaysian market in 2023, compiling data on climate suitability, pests and diseases, and post-harvest handling, while also engaging in nearly two years of negotiations with Malaysian authorities and submitting supplementary
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About nine Taiwanese are “disappeared,” detained, or otherwise deprived of freedom of movement in China each month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Between Jan. 1 last year and Aug. 31 this year, 188 Taiwanese travelers went missing, were detained and interrogated, or had their personal freedom restricted, with some questioned in airports or hotel lobbies, the council said. In a statement ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the council urged people visiting China for any reason to be highly vigilant and aware of the risks. Of the reported cases, 50 people were “disappeared” after entering China, 19 were detained and 119 had