A chief suspect in the 1996 murder of former Taoyuan County commissioner Liu Pang-you (
Yang Shih-kang (
Police said Yang's escape appeared to be well-planned, and suspected that information had been leaked to Yang's accomplices about the investigation schedule yesterday.
Yang, who has a heavy criminal record, reportedly escaped to Cambodia after a police investigation linked him to the murder of Taoyuan County commissioner Liu Pang-you.
Yang was arrested in July, however, after he snuck back into Taiwan with a heavy cache of weapons and ammunitions. The weapons included an Uzi submachine gun and a shotgun.
Since then, Yang has helped police find two more guns he had hidden in various places around Taoyuan. Yesterday, police were taking him to Yangmei township to find another Chinese AK-47 rifle he claimed to have hidden there.
Police immediately launched a search operation after Yang's escape, but found no trace of him. Police say they are concerned that he may flee the country again with the help of illegal smuggling rings, or possibly commit even more crimes with the heavy arsenal apparently at his disposal.
Liu and eight other people, including two county councilors, were shot execution-style in his house in Taoyuan on Nov. 24, 1996. A number of suspects have been detained since the slaying, but the case remains unsolved to this day, causing embarrassment for investigators.
Since the murder, allegations have surfaced regarding Liu's dealings with local businessmen involving both real estate and entertainment developments, and some have suggested that his killing may have been the result of a dispute with one of them over money.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique