Pop singer Jody Chiang (江蕙) last week took action to help her brother during an alleged robbery at his home.
Chiang was visiting her family on Saturday last week at New Taipei City’s Tamsui (淡水) Fontainebleau (楓丹白露) residential area for an early Christmas gathering when the incident occurred.
The alleged attacker, Chen Chin-piao (陳金標), 58, is being held in custody, Chiang said on Facebook on Thursday.
Chiang said she and her cook were preparing dinner on the second floor of the apartment when she heard her brother screaming on the sixth floor.
Chiang said she ran upstairs and saw a man holding a knife to her brother’s throat and heard him saying: “Open the safe! Give me your jewelry!”
Chiang said she told the man that her brother had no safe or expensive jewelry, adding that she tried to diffuse the situation by talking with the man.
After a 20-minute standoff, Chiang lunged at the man and took the knife, she said, adding that she cut both hands and hit her head.
Chen allegedly arrived at the apartment by taxi wearing a security guard uniform, a hat and a surgical mask and entered the building by telling the guard on duty that he need to get a signature on a contract from a client who lives in the building, police said.
Chiang’s brother opened the door believing Chen was a security guard bringing him a package, police said.
Chiang said that because of her celebrity she fears the incident would bring trouble to other residents in the building and asked her family to report the incident without mentioning her name.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious