The police yesterday announced a new lead that might indicate that the bullets fired at President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) on March 19 had come from the same gun, although officials refused to comment on whether this was indeed the case.
"We discovered that every single pistol made by Tang Shou-yi (
Tang was arrested earlier this month on suspicion that he had made the bullets used in the assassination attempt on Chen and Lu.
"Unlike usual homemade pistols, Tang's products are capable of firing more than two bullets consecutively," Hou said.
He declined to say whether this meant that the president and vice president could have been shot by the same pistol.
The integrity barrel is one of the most important parts of a pistol, especially a homemade one. For structural reasons, the makers of such pistols usually do not solder the barrel, although Tang did so for every single pistol he made, Hou said.
In addition, Tang added a chamber to eject spent bullets, making his pistols capable of firing several bullets within "a very short time," which is an unusual feature in most homemade pistols, Hou said.
He said that Tang's homemade products were all based on the Beretta M84 pistol, which has a 9mm barrel. Tang, however, supplied his guns with 8mm barrels, which has made it easier for the police to track down his handiwork.
The police have said that Tang has confessed to having made a total of 40 pistols and more than 1,000 bullets since he started his business in January last year.
According to the latest figures released by the Criminal Investigation Bureau yesterday, officers have retrieved 19 fake Berettas made by Tang, as well as 300 homemade bullets.
Police officers have also interrogated more than 100 people who have owned or currently possess these pistols and bullets, but they have not linked any of these people to the March 19 assassination attempt.
"I can assure you that we have the ability and determination to retrieve every one of them, including the pistols and bullets, so that we can find the man we are looking for," Hou said.
Tang was arrested on Oct. 12 at his Tainan residence, which allegedly doubled as his illegal weapons factory.
On Dec. 13, prosecutors and the police held a joint press conference to announce that they had confirmed that Tang had made the bullets and pistol used in the attack on Chen and Lu.
They are focusing their investigation on finding the person who had bought the weapon from Tang and used it in the failed assassination attempt.
The police had been unable to confirm whether the two bullets which injured the president and vice president came from the same pistol. However, the new evidence seemed to suggest that this was a possibility.
Meanwhile, police are screening Tang's phone records in a bid to identify the buyer of the gun that had been used in the attack.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is pushing for residents of Kinmen and Lienchiang counties to acquire Chinese ID cards in a bid to “blur national identities,” a source said. The efforts are part of China’s promotion of a “Kinmen-Xiamen twin-city living sphere, including a cross-strait integration pilot zone in China’s Fujian Province,” the source said. “The CCP is already treating residents of these outlying islands as Chinese citizens. It has also intensified its ‘united front’ efforts and infiltration of those islands,” the source said. “There is increasing evidence of espionage in Kinmen, particularly of Taiwanese military personnel being recruited by the
ENTERTAINERS IN CHINA: Taiwanese generally back the government being firm on infiltration and ‘united front’ work,’ the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association said Most people support the government probing Taiwanese entertainers for allegedly “amplifying” the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda, a survey conducted by the Asia-Pacific Elite Interchange Association showed on Friday. Public support stood at 56.4 percent for action by the Mainland Affairs Council and the Ministry of Culture to enhance scrutiny on Taiwanese performers and artists who have developed careers in China while allegedly adhering to the narrative of Beijing’s propaganda that denigrates or harms Taiwanese sovereignty, the poll showed. Thirty-three percent did not support the action, it showed. The poll showed that 51.5 percent of respondents supported the government’s investigation into Taiwanese who have
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
A Philippine official has denied allegations of mistreatment of crew members during Philippine authorities’ boarding of a Taiwanese fishing vessel on Monday. Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) spokesman Nazario Briguera on Friday said that BFAR law enforcement officers “observed the proper boarding protocols” when they boarded the Taiwanese vessel Sheng Yu Feng (昇漁豐號) and towed it to Basco Port in the Philippines. Briguera’s comments came a day after the Taiwanese captain of the Sheng Yu Feng, Chen Tsung-tun (陳宗頓), held a news conference in Pingtung County and accused the Philippine authorities of mistreatment during the boarding of
RSS