The Taipei Police Department yesterday arrested a 54-year-old man surnamed Chang (張) for allegedly firing three gunshots at the Ministry of Digital Affairs in Taipei.
No one was injured in the shooting.
The incident nonetheless caused a security scare as the building is only about 750m from the Presidential Office Building.
Photo: CNA
Based on surveillance camera footage and witness descriptions, Chang walked into the ministry through the main entrance carrying a backpack and a shotgun. A pistol was also found later.
When a security guard stopped him, Chang reportedly made comments critical of the government and fired a shot at a wall.
He fired a second shot at a and a third at an automatic door at the entrance, witnesses said.
Photo: CNA
Chang did not attempt to flee after firing, witnesses said.
When police officers arrived, Chang walked out of the building, dropped the gun and backpack, squatted and held his head in his hands as he was arrested, witnesses said.
A preliminary investigation found that Chang operates a bed-and-breakfast near Cingjing Farm (清靜農場) in Nantou County’s Renai Township (仁愛).
Chang wrote on Facebook shortly before the incident that he is not affiliated with any political party, but he hated the Democratic Progressive Party “to the guts” for blocking imports of COVID-19 vaccines and favoring Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (高端疫苗).
No judicial officials are investigating the corruption cases and scandals are piling up in this government, he wrote.
Some news media are turning into assassins of the ruling party, spreading rumors and telling people to hate China, he wrote.
“Why do we have to hate China? Americans have been sucking our blood, yet we are still busy currying favor with them,” he wrote. “And what has the ministry done for Taiwan? All it does is promote what this incompetent government has done and feel good about itself.”
Chang attributed Taiwan Power Co’s (台電) financial woes to the government’s green energy policy, adding that ordinary Taiwanese have to foot the bill.
Police recovered a shotgun and a pistol, as well as five shotgun shells and two pistol magazines.
Police officials said that an investigation has been launched into Chang’s political background and whether he had accomplices.
Chang told police officers that he purchased the guns via an online advertisement, a claim they said was being assessed.
Chang faces possible charges of contravening the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例) and the Criminal Code, police said.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS