The head of the Taiwanese Business Association (TBA) in Cambodia, Lee Chim-hsin (
The shootings took place while the victims were sitting in the back of Lee's car in front of his residence in Phnom Penh.
TBA steering committee members decided yesterday to hold a memorial ceremony on Monday to "press the Cambodian government" to demonstrate its resolve to apprehend the murderers, according to TBA secretary-general Yu Chien-kuo (
PHOTO: REUTERS
Yu said Lee's body would be sent back to Taiwan on Vietnam Airlines on July 4, at the request of Lee's family.
Taiwan has no diplomatic relations with Cambodia. Wang Ping (王平) and Wu Kuang-Ting (吳光定), two officials from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, arrived in Phnom Penh yesterday afternoon.
After a two-hour discussion involving TBA members over the Cambodian authorities' handling of the murder, Wang said, "We suggested Cambodian police set up a special emergency phone line for Taiwanese businessmen."
Around 40 Taiwanese businessmen attended the meeting. The Cambodian police chief responsible for foreign affairs also attended to offer condolences on behalf of the Cambodian government. He promised to solve the murder.
Yu quoted at least one Taiwanese eyewitness who had said that, though he could not be sure, the murderers "resembled" the bodyguards of a Cambodian air force general. The eyewitness also claimed that he suspected they had been sent by a Cambodian businessman.
Lee had enjoyed good relations with several high-level Cambodian officials as well as with the China Business Association (CBA), an association of Chinese businesses in Cambodia. Lee often went to a restaurant in Phnom Penh run by the CBA's head, Xie Xiang-rong (
Lee went to Cambodia four years ago to set up his business, which deals mainly in the field of construction materials, and was elected head of the TBA two years ago. He was thought by many to regard himself as the "unofficial representative of Taiwan" and was said to be very enthusiastic to make full use of his connections and to help Taiwanese in Cambodia.
Lee had got involved in negotiations surrounding a financial dispute between a Taiwan businessman named Liu Shin-yi (
Lee had allegedly been told by the Cambodian -- through others -- not to get involved, but had dismissed such suggestions saying: "We Taiwanese won't be bullied."
Yu said the sum involved in the dispute was approximately US$45,000.
Acquaintances of Lee said it was not the first time he had been threatened. His personal style and his claims of being Taiwan's "unofficial representative" always made him stand out.
"He died because of somebody else's business," Yu said.
The TBA is to publish an appeal in local Chinese and Cambodian newspapers to pressure the Cambodian government to address the security of Taiwan businessmen in Cambodia.
"We plan to ask 14 business groups from 14 countries to sign this appeal before we publish it," said Yu, adding that the chief of the CBA, Xie, was helping to draft the appeal.
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