The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday asked police to investigate an online rumor alleging that the general manager of the Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) water park in New Taipei City is a financial supporter of the party.
The water park is the site of an explosion on Saturday that injured nearly 500 people and killed one person.
“While the entire nation prays and tries by all means to help victims of the explosion, there are politically calculating people who are taking advantage of the tragedy by making false accusations against the DPP,” Huang Di-ying (黃帝穎), a lawyer, said outside the Taipei Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division headquarters before going inside to file a police report.
“What they are doing is very inappropriate, so we are officially asking police to launch an investigation to see who is behind such political maneuvering that also harms victims and their families,” Huang added.
Huang was referring to a message that has been circulating via Line, Facebook and other social networking or messenger services.
According to the message, Formosa Fun Coast general manager Chen Hui-ying (陳慧穎) is an important sponsor of the DPP. It says that the financial relationship explains why the DPP “has not been pointing fingers” about the incident.
“I was thinking it felt odd,” the message read. “In the past, whenever something happened in a city or county governed by the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT], the DPP would go all out and make all kinds of accusations, but this time no one is doing so — [New Taipei City Mayor] Eric Chu [朱立倫] has had a narrow escape.”
This is not an isolated case, Huang said, adding that earlier this month, a rumor surfaced saying that the family of DPP Chairperson and presidential nominee Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) owns the Hai Pa Wang (海霸王) seafood restaurant chain and is expanding in China.
The Criminal Investigation Division accepted the report, asked for more details and promised to investigate.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS