A Hong Kong court sentenced three local men to between 10 and 12 years in jail yesterday for kidnapping the son of Taiwan actress and director Sylvia Chang
Leung Man-kwong
The court did not give the surname of the boy, whose mother lives in the territory and is well known in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The attention given to the case gripped Hong Kong last year and aroused concerns among celebrities about their personal safety and that of their families.
Chang, 45, has starred in more than 70 films including Eat Drink Man Woman
Tsang, identified as the mastermind of the crime, will spend 12 years behind bars while his accomplices will be jailed for 10 years.
The men made 15 calls to Oscar's family and at first demanded a ransom of HK$15 million (US$1.9 million). The sum was later negotiated down to HK$8 million.
During the ransom negotiations, the kidnappers ferried Oscar from one hotel to another by hiding him in a suitcase.
The saga ended when police intercepted two of the kidnappers outside a hotel while they were in possession of the suitcase. Oscar was found inside, blindfolded but unhurt.
No ransom was ever paid.
Heavily in debt and out of work, Tsang came up with the idea of kidnapping the son of the movie star and her businessman husband 18 months after he had done construction work for the couple, the court heard.
High Court Judge Louis Tong
Calling the case "premeditated, well-planned and carefully executed," the judge rejected defense arguments that the trio should be given lenient sentences because the boy was never physically abused.
The judge also commended Chang for being brave and reporting the case to police.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow yesterday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces.” The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Russian Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
‘POLITICAL GAME’: DPP lawmakers said the motion would not meet the legislative threshold needed, and accused the KMT and the TPP of trivializing the Constitution The Legislative Yuan yesterday approved a motion to initiate impeachment proceedings against President William Lai (賴清德), saying he had undermined Taiwan’s constitutional order and democracy. The motion was approved 61-50 by lawmakers from the main opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the smaller Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), who together hold a legislative majority. Under the motion, a roll call vote for impeachment would be held on May 19 next year, after various hearings are held and Lai is given the chance to defend himself. The move came after Lai on Monday last week did not promulgate an amendment passed by the legislature that
RSS