The Kaohsiung City Council yesterday flew the council flag at half-mast to pay tribute to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Hsu Kun-yuan (許崑源), who was found dead after falling from his 17th-floor apartment late on Saturday night.
Hsu died several hours after the city voted to recall Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), whom Hsu had strongly supported.
Kaohsiung City Council Deputy Speaker Lu Shu-mei (陸淑美) said that the council is assisting Hsu’s family with funeral arrangements, and that it would hold a by-election for the speaker position.
Photo courtesy of Kaohsiung City Council
Kaohsiung prosecutors at 2:40am yesterday finished examining Hsu’s body, saying that he had sustained several broken bones and a fractured skull after what appears to have been a fall from his 17th-floor apartment.
They are still attempting to determine the exact cause of death, they added.
Initial investigations have ruled out any suspects in the death, and no suicide note was found, Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office Director Tseng Ching-ya (曾靖雅) said.
Hsu’s wife and daughter were at home at the time of his death, but they had no insight into the cause, and police did not plan to question them further, Tseng said.
Hsu, who was 63, was in his second term as city council speaker.
A friend of Hsu’s told investigators that the speaker had experienced difficulty with his vision, hearing and movement since a stroke last year, and that he had been in rehabilitation.
Shortly after news reports of Hsu’s death, Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) posted about it on Facebook, with the comment: “This is quite scary. Did [Hsu] get himself in trouble gambling or something?”
The post was quickly removed, and Liang apologized after receiving criticism for it.
“That was just careless conjecture on my part due to lack of information. Although I deleted the post quickly, I recognize my mistake. I solemnly apologize to the family for the disrespect,” he wrote.
Several commenters continued to criticize Liang, with one person writing: “Your first reaction is reflective of your true character, everything else is an act.”
Another wrote: “Show some decorum, the man is already dead.”
Meanwhile, KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) yesterday went to the funeral hall to offer condolences to Hsu’s family and pay tribute to his contributions to the city council.
Hsu had always shown more care for Kaohsiung than for himself, despite his health problems, and had always reminded Kaohsiung residents to look to the future rather than dwell on the past, Chiang said.
Chiang also asked people to refrain from spreading rumors about Hsu’s death, and called for calm in the wake of Han’s recall.
Separately, the city government quoted Han in a statement saying that he was “extremely shocked” and “deeply saddened” by news of Hsu’s death.
Han called on his supporters to remain calm and act rationally despite his recall, asking them to move on.
Former KMT chairman Wu Den-yih (吳敦義), who was Kaohsiung mayor from 1990 to 1998, yesterday also went to the funeral hall to offer condolences to Hsu’s family.
Wu said that Hsu, a “mild-tempered and selfless” person, was a good friend of his in Kaohsiung.
Additional reporting by CNA
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