The Taipei District Court ruled yesterday that two more suspects — one of them an army soldier — should be detained in connection with the killing of a police detective in Taipei on Sept. 14.
The court ordered that the soldier, Ma Yin-hung (馬寅紘), and Wan Shao-cheng (萬少丞), a suspected gang member, be held incommunicado, after they were detained by prosecutors a day earlier.
Five other defendants, including another soldier and a military policeman, were released on bail of NT$100,000 each.
Police and prosecutors identified the suspects after reviewing surveillance footage and collecting fingerprints from weapons such as baseball bats, bottles and metal pipes that were allegedly used to kill police detective Hsueh Chen-kuo (薛貞國).
Wan said he received a telephone call from another suspect, Hsiao Jui-hung (蕭叡鴻), an alleged member of the Bamboo Union (竹聯幫) on Sept. 13, asking him to gather some people for a confrontation at a nightclub in the ATT 4 FUN department store in Taipei, Taipei police said.
Police said Wan admitted being at the scene of the crime, but denied beating Hsueh. Ma and the other defendants also denied taking part in the assault, police said.
Another main suspect, alleged gang member Chou Yu-teng (周譽騰), is still at large. Police said they had arrested three people reportedly working under Chou and are still on the hunt for Chou.
Hsueh died in the early hours of Sept. 14 after being beaten up by a mob outside the department store in Xinyi District (信義).
The 38-year-old detective, who police said was at the scene to handle a disturbance at the nightclub despite being off duty, died after being assaulted by a group of about 50.
Three main suspects were detained earlier last week and have also been held incommunicado.
Separately yesterday, as the Ministry of National Defense launched an administrative investigation into the case, officials said that none of the three soldiers allegedly involved in Hsueh’s death have criminal records and they deny gang affiliations.
While Ma was detained, soldier Wang Pei-an (王培安) and military policeman Tung Yu-tang (董玉堂) were released on bail after being interrogated. All of them denied involvement in the violence.
After their release, Wang and Tung said that they have never been members of a gang, Office of the Inspector General director Major General Jiang Chung-te (江忠德) told a press conference.
The military would mete out suitable punishments if the investigation showed that the three were involved, Jiang said, adding that punishments could range from verbal admonitions to major demerits.
Ma is undergoing a four-month period of military training as Taiwan shifts from a compulsory service system toward an all-volunteer force. He was set to complete his training on Oct. 2, Jiang said.
Wang, is set to complete his one-year mandatory military service on Nov. 5, Jiang said, adding that Tung enlisted last year and passed a series of tests and background checks before being enlisted.
The military also plans to provide more instruction in the law for the soldiers, Jiang added.
According to Jiang, the ministry has held regular classes on the law for service personnel and asks them not to visit places such as nightclubs and pubs where their personal safety could be threatened.
RULES TIGHTENED: Passengers arriving from Sydney and Los Angeles tested positive for COVID-19, while passengers arriving from Seattle all tested negative Seventeen of the 217 passengers who arrived on long-haul at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday morning tested positive for COVID-19, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said, adding that the positivity rate was higher than expected. Yesterday was the first day that the government enforced stricter health guidelines for the testing of passengers arriving on long-haul flights. They must undergo a polymerase chain reaction test immediately after arriving at the nation’s international airports. Those who test positive are sent directly to hospitals to avoid spreading the virus to people working in and around the airports and at quarantine hotels. Victor Wang (王必勝),
‘NEW YEAR GIFT’: While the MAC called the song propaganda, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said that it addressed the homesickness of ‘Taiwanese compatriots’ A pro-unification pop song aired on Chinese television earlier this month would only further sour Taiwanese sentiment toward China, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Wednesday. The music video for We Sing the Same Song (我們同唱一首歌), which aired on China Central Television, features Chinese artists performing alongside Taiwanese singers Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰), Ouyang Nana (歐陽娜娜) and Chen Li-nong (陳立農). The lyrics were reportedly written by Taiwanese lyricist Vincent Fang (方文山), known for his collaborations with Jay Chou (周杰倫), to music composed by a Chinese musician. Sung in Chinese and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), the song is about three Taiwanese siblings who
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration is seeking to join an Indo-Pacific economic framework being planned by the US, a senior official said. The government is paying close attention to the regional economic pact being touted by US President Joe Biden, although too few details have emerged from Washington for Taipei to make specific plans, the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. The US is expected to launch the Indo-Pacific economic framework next month after negotiations with Australia, India and Japan, the official said. The economic initiative is to tackle trade facilitation, standards for the digital economy and technology, supply-chain resiliency and
‘CHAOS’: Victor Wang, the CECC’s on-site commander at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, said testing of arrivals has sped up in time to meet holiday demand For now, people are not banned from eating and drinking on trains, despite the rise in locally transmitted cases of COVID-19, Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday. “On Sunday, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced that the nation would remain on a level 2 COVID-19 alert until at least Jan. 24. So we will follow the center’s disease prevention guidelines for passengers on public transport systems,” Wang said. However, bus and train depots have been asked to disinfect facilities more frequently, he said. The center’s new
RSS