Police yesterday confirmed that KMT Legislator Apollo Chen (
Chen told a press conference yesterday that while he and his wife were driving through Taipei County's Sanhsia area early Saturday evening two cars, a Honda Civic and a Mitsubishi Virage, forced him off the road.
PHOTO: LU CHUN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
A man pretending to ask for directions approached Chen's car and was quickly followed by two other men. All three men drew pistols and forced Chen to hand over all his valuables.
"I immediately told them that I was a lawmaker and that I would give them whatever they wanted as long as they didn't hurt my wife or myself," Chen said. "They took approximately NT$10,000 and my car keys, as well as our only mobile phone, and fled."
Chen said that he hitched a ride from a passing farmer and called the police at a nearby temple.
"The Civic's rear license plates were missing, but I didn't notice whether the Virage had license plates," Chen said.
Police said they have reviewed Chen's stolen mobile-phone records and discovered that the suspects did not make any calls after the incident. Officers suspect that the robbers took Chen's phone and keys to give them time to escape. Officers are also looking for the owners of the Civic and the Virage.
Taipei County Police Chief Huang Mao-swei (
Chen was robbed three days after two men tried to kidnap Taipei County Council Speaker Hsu Tsai-en (
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS