Chinese officials in India have attempted to take advantage of the heroics of a Taiwanese man who, despite being injured in a deadly restaurant bombing in India on Feb. 13, dashed back inside to help other survivors, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said.
Chen said the Chinese officials attempted to portray the heroic Taiwanese as a Chinese national.
“They went to see him at the hospital, but he pretended to be asleep [to avoid being taken advantage of],” Chen told the Taipei Times yesterday.
PHOTO: CNA
The spokesman declined to reveal further details.
When Huang Chih-ming (黃志明) went to India last month, he had no idea he would be at the scene of a bombing that would kill nine.
He was having a meal with friends at the restaurant when the bomb exploded on the evening of Feb. 13. Huang survived the attack, but his left leg was injured after being hit by a gas canister. His eardrums were also ruptured by the explosion.
He nevertheless rushed back into the crowded eatery in Pune, India, to save other victims after hearing two people crying for help, Huang said.
“I feel ashamed to be called a hero,” Huang said after receiving a certificate of appreciation from Minister of Foreign Affairs Timothy Yang (楊進添) yesterday morning.
“After I had recovered a little bit, I realized that many people stayed late in the hospital that night to save lives. They are the real heroes,” Huang said.
Huang, who returned to Taipei on Feb. 25, said his faith had led him to do the right thing in the wake of the blast.
“I grew up in Taiwan and was educated here. I believe any Taiwanese in my shoes would have done the same thing,” he said.
Huang has been awarded 50,000 rupees (US$1,090) by the Indian government and received another 10,000 rupees from Taiwan’s representative office in India. He donated the money to the hospital where victims of the attack were cared for.
The minister said Huang’s behavior exemplified the Taiwanese spirit, adding that the nation was proud of his kindness.
The bombing was the first major attack in India since the Mumbai massacre in 2008. It happened one day after India and Pakistan agreed to resume talks.
RISK REMAINS: An official said that with the US presidential elections so close, it is unclear if China would hold war games or keep its reaction to angry words The Ministry of National Defense said it was “on alert” as it detected a Chinese aircraft carrier group to Taiwan’s south yesterday amid concerns in Taiwan about the possibility of a new round of Chinese war games. The ministry said in a statement that a Chinese navy group led by the carrier Liaoning had entered waters near the Bashi Channel, which connects the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean and separates Taiwan from the Philippines. It said the carrier group was expected to enter the Western Pacific. The military is keeping a close watch on developments and “exercising an
FIVE-YEAR WINDOW? A defense institute CEO said a timeline for a potential Chinese invasion was based on expected ‘tough measures’ when Xi Jinping seeks a new term Most Taiwanese are willing to defend the nation against a Chinese attack, but the majority believe Beijing is unlikely to invade within the next five years, a poll showed yesterday. The poll carried out last month was commissioned by the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, a Taipei-based think tank, and released ahead of Double Ten National Day today, when President William Lai (賴清德) is to deliver a speech. China maintains a near-daily military presence around Taiwan and has held three rounds of war games in the past two years. CIA Director William Burns last year said that Chinese President Xi Jinping
RESILIENCE: Once the system is operational, there would be no need to worry about the risks posed by disasters or other emergencies on communication systems, an official said Taiwan would have 24-hour access to low Earth orbit satellites by the end of this month through service provided by Eutelsat OneWeb as part of the nation’s effort to enhance signal resilience, a Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) official said yesterday. Earlier this year the Ministry of Digital Affairs, which partnered with Chunghwa Telecom on a two-year project to boost signal resilience throughout the nation, said it reached a milestone when it made contact with OneWeb’s satellites half of the time. It expects to have the capability to maintain constant contact with the satellites and have nationwide coverage by the end
REACTION TO LAI: A former US official said William Lai took a step toward stability with his National Day speech and the question was how Beijing would respond US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing’s reaction to President William Lai’s (賴清德) speech on Double Ten National Day on Thursday. Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.” “China should not use it in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions,” Blinken told reporters. “On the contrary, we want to reinforce — and many other countries want to reinforce — the imperative of preserving the status quo, and neither party taking any
RSS