A Chinese monk visiting with a Chinese Buddhist delegation has committed suicide after killing another member of the delegation, police said yesterday.
The murder took place at the Forte Hotel in Hsinchu, where the six-member delegation was staying, a duty officer from the Hsinchu Police Bureau said.
The delegation from the Ling Gu Temple in Nanjing, China, arrived on Monday for a six-day visit at the invitation of the Hsuan Chuang Cultural And Educational Foundation.
They checked into the Forte Hotel on Tuesday.
When foundation members arrived at the hotel at about 8am yesterday to pick up the delegation for a tour, they found priest Jing Ran (淨然), 32, lying in a pool of blood on his bed, while Chun Ru (純如), a 52-year-old monk, had committed suicide by jumping from the rooftop of the 12-story hotel, police said.
An initial investigation showed that Quan Ru had lost his entry permit and was chided by Jing Ran, triggering a quarrel.
Late on Tuesday night or early yesterday morning, Quan Ru broke into Jing Ran’s room and hit him on the head with a table lamp before leaping from the rooftop, police said.
“The monk killed the priest while the priest was sleeping. No one knew about it until the Chuan Chuang Foundation people came to pick up the delegation shortly before 8am,” a hotel employee said, asking to remain anonymous.
In Quan Ru’s pocket, police found a note saying: “Call police to arrest me, then I can die in peace.”
Members of the Chinese delegation said that Jing Ran had recently been chosen to become the director of the Ling Gu Temple.
They said Quan Ru held a grudge against Jing Ran as he had often argued with him over how to run the temple.
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
Restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu City and Hsinchu County are to be included in the Michelin Guide’s review for the first time this year, alongside existing entries from Taipei, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung, the France-based culinary publication said yesterday. This year’s edition of the Michelin Guide Taiwan is to be unveiled on Aug. 19 in Taipei. In addition to the coveted star ratings, Michelin Taiwan would announce its “Bib Gourmand” selections — a distinction awarded to establishments offering high-quality food at moderate prices — on Aug. 12. This year’s Bib Gourmand list would also feature restaurants in New Taipei City, Hsinchu
A firefighter yesterday died after falling into New Taipei City's Xindian River when a rescue dinghy capsized during a search mission for a man who was later found dead. The New Taipei City Fire Department said that it received a report at 4:12pm that a 50-year-old man, surnamed Chen (陳), had fallen into the river. A 32-year-old firefighter, surnamed Wu (吳), was among the rescuers deployed to look for Chen, the fire department said, adding that he and five other rescue personnel were in the dinghy when it capsized. Wu had no vital signs after being pulled from the water to the
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
RSS