Rescuers yesterday struggled to reach Taishin Financial Holdings Co (台新金控) president Lin Keh-hsiao (林克孝) after he fell off a cliff during a hiking trip in Yilan County on Wednesday, the county’s fire and rescue authorities said.
Lin was climbing Shusuei Mountain (束穗山) in Nanao Township (南澳) with two friends when he fell off a steep section of the mountain at about 9pm, according to the Yilan County Fire Bureau.
A helicopter from the National Airborne Service Corps (NASC) was dispatched to the site yesterday morning, but could not reach Lin due to the steepness of the site, NASC said.
Photo: CNA
Search and rescue crews had to climb down the cliff on foot, the NASC said.
The Fire Bureau said no progress had been made in the rescue attempt so far and there had been no contact with the rescuers since about 2:40pm. The bureau attributed the difficulty in communications to the special geological conditions in the area.
Taishin Financial deputy spokesman Bingo Lee (李並光) declined to confirm a report by Taipei-based Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC, 中廣) that Lin had been located and appeared lifeless.
Photo: CNA
“We don’t want to give up any hope and will respect the wish of the Lin family to wait for authorities’ confirmation,” Lee said by telephone.
There was no response from Taishin Financial chairman Thomas Wu (吳東亮), who is currently on an overseas business trip.
Lin, 52, has been president of Taishin Financial since Jan. 26, 2007, and doubles as its chief economist. He joined the group after earning a doctorate in economics from the University of Washington in 1990.
Lin served as vice chairman and then president of the former Taiwan Securities (台証證券) before being promoted to the helm of Taishin Financial.
He was scheduled to preside over the financial holding company’s quarterly conference with investors on Tuesday to discuss its financial performance in the first half of the year.
The group reported NT$780 million (US$26.84 million) in net income last month, a 22 percent drop from one month earlier, the company said in a statement last week.
Cumulative net profits reached NT$6.54 billion as of last month, translating into earnings of NT$0.9 per share, the statement said.
Shares of Taishin Financial ended down 0.73 percent to NT$13.65 yesterday, deeper than the TAIEX’s 0.22 percent dip and the financial sub-index’s 0.56 fall.
QUIET START: Nearly a week after applications opened, agencies did not announce or promote the program, nor did they explain how it differed from other visitor visas Taiwan has launched a six-month “digital nomad visitor visa” program for foreign nationals from its list of visa-exempt countries who meet financial eligibility criteria and provide proof of work contracts. To apply, foreign nationals must either provide proof that they have obtained a digital nomad visa issued by another country or demonstrate earnings based on age brackets, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said. Applicants aged 20 to 29 must show they earned an annual salary of at least US$20,000 or its equivalent in one of the past two years, while those aged 30 or older must provide proof they earned US$40,000 in
AIR DEFENSE: The Norwegian missile system has proved highly effective in Ukraine in its war against Russia, and the US has recommended it for Taiwan, an expert said The Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) Taiwan ordered from the US would be installed in strategically important positions in Taipei and New Taipei City to guard the region, the Ministry of National Defense said in statement yesterday. The air defense system would be deployed in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) and New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), the ministry said, adding that the systems could be delivered as soon as the end of this year. The US Defense Security Cooperation Agency has previously said that three NASAMS would be sold to Taiwan. The weapons are part of the 17th US arms sale to
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS: The suspects formed spy networks and paramilitary groups to kill government officials during a possible Chinese invasion, prosecutors said Prosecutors have indicted seven retired military officers, members of the Rehabilitation Alliance Party, for allegedly obtaining funds from China, and forming paramilitary groups and assassination squads in Taiwan to collaborate with Chinese troops in a possible war. The suspects contravened the National Security Act (國家安全法) by taking photos and drawing maps of key radar stations, missile installations and the American Institute in Taiwan’s headquarters in Taipei, prosecutors said. They allegedly prepared to collaborate with China during a possible invasion of Taiwan, prosecutors said. Retired military officer Chu Hung-i (屈宏義), 62, a Republic of China Army Academy graduate, went to China
UNITY MESSAGE: Rather than focusing on what Trump said on the campaign trail about Taiwan, Taipei should be willing to engage with the US, Pompeo said Taiwan plays a key role in Washington’s model of deterrence against China, former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said in a speech in Taipei yesterday. During US president-elect Donald Trump’s first term, “we had developed what we believe was a pretty effective model of deterrence against adversaries who wanted to undermine the set of rules and values that the people of Taiwan and the people of the US hold dear,” Pompeo said at a forum organized by the Formosa Republican Association. “Succeeding in continuing to build this model will not solely rest at the feet of president Trump and his team,
RSS