A reporter was beaten by masked men early on Wednesday morning in an incident he claimed could be related to the legislative election on Saturday.
Greater -Kaohsiung-based reporter Chiang Wen-hsin (江文兟), 56, who works for the -Chinese--language Taiwan Times, was beaten by four men wielding baseball bats who pushed their way into his residence when he returned home early on Wednesday morning.
As a result of the attack, both Chiang’s legs were broken and he suffered multiple broken ribs and fingers.
Photo: Taipei Times
Although his injuries were not life-threatening, the damage to his hands means that Chiang will be unable to write any news articles until her recovers.
“I do not have disputes with anybody,” Chiang said.
He later added that the legislative elections in Greater Kao-hsiung had at times been quite tense.
At one point he received a call from a supporter of a certain political faction accusing him of writing articles that were biased.
According to the police, Chiang returned to his home in Ciweishan (旗尾山) after meeting with friends at a McDonalds in Greater Kaohsiung’s Cishan District (旗山) and was attacked outside his residence.
The attack lasted for about 10 minutes and he was only able to shout for help after regaining consciousness, Chiang said.
The police’s New Year Security Taskforce, an annual group formed during the Lunar New Year period to patrol local areas and step up security, stated work on Tuesday.
Police stopping motorists on Ciwei Bridge and conducting sobriety tests said that a white car refused to stop, but managed to escape, after being chased by police. The police have listed the passengers of the vehicle as prime suspects in the beating.
A special team has been established to investigate the case.
The police declined to comment on whether the attack on Chiang was motivated by an election--related dispute or something else, saying only that the investigation was ongoing.
In response, the Taiwan Times issued a statement saying that it strongly condemned violence and expected the police to arrest the perpetrators as soon as possible.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
NATIONAL SECURITY: The Chinese influencer shared multiple videos on social media in which she claimed Taiwan is a part of China and supported its annexation Freedom of speech does not allow comments by Chinese residents in Taiwan that compromise national security or social stability, the nation’s top officials said yesterday, after the National Immigration Agency (NIA) revoked the residency permit of a Chinese influencer who published videos advocating China annexing Taiwan by force. Taiwan welcomes all foreigners to settle here and make families so long as they “love the land and people of Taiwan,” Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) told lawmakers during a plenary session at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. The public power of the government must be asserted when necessary and the Ministry of
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
EMBRACING TAIWAN: US lawmakers have introduced an act aiming to replace the use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ with ‘Taiwan’ across all Washington’s federal agencies A group of US House of Representatives lawmakers has introduced legislation to replace the term “Chinese Taipei” with “Taiwan” across all federal agencies. US Representative Byron Donalds announced the introduction of the “America supports Taiwan act,” which would mandate federal agencies adopt “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei,” a news release on his page on the US House of Representatives’ Web site said. US representatives Mike Collins, Barry Moore and Tom Tiffany are cosponsors of the legislation, US political newspaper The Hill reported yesterday. “The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official US
CHANGE OF TONE: G7 foreign ministers dropped past reassurances that there is no change in the position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including ‘one China’ policies G7 foreign ministers on Friday took a tough stance on China, stepping up their language on Taiwan and omitting some conciliatory references from past statements, including to “one China” policies. A statement by ministers meeting in Canada mirrored last month’s Japan-US statement in condemning “coercion” toward Taiwan. Compared with a G7 foreign ministers’ statement in November last year, the statement added members’ concerns over China’s nuclear buildup, although it omitted references to their concerns about Beijing’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. Also missing were references stressing the desire for “constructive and stable relations with China” and