Singer and actor Alien Huang (黃鴻升) was found dead at his home in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) yesterday. He was 36.
Huang was also known by the nickname Xiao Gui (“little ghost”).
His body was found when his father went to check on him after being unable to reach him by telephone, and called emergency services to the house at 11am, the Taipei City Police Department said.
Photo: Chen Yi-kuan, Taipei Times
Huang’s body, which was discovered just outside the bathroom, showed no signs of a physical struggle, and he appeared to have been dead for some time, police said, adding that no drugs or alcohol were found at the scene.
Huang had returned home at about 7pm on Tuesday and later that evening posted an Instagram story showing him playing with his pet dog, authorities said.
The exact cause and manner of his death are being investigated, police said.
Huang was a graduate of Taipei Hwa Kang Arts School, and classmates included actress Hsu Wei-ning (許瑋甯) and singer Rainie Yang (楊丞琳).
He got his first big break in 2002 as a member of the short-lived boy band HC3 and founded his own band, Cosmo (丸子), the following year.
Huang transitioned into roles as an actor in television dramas and hosted variety shows, with the latter earning him nominations in 2015 and last year at the annual Golden Bell Awards for television production.
News of Huang’s death was met with an outpouring of tributes from friends and colleagues.
Yang — who dated Huang for several years — said via her agent that she “cannot describe how much it hurts” to lose Huang, who was “like family” to her.
Hsu wrote on Instagram that she and other Hwa Kang graduates had been planning to hold a reunion today, although Huang had said that he would be unable to attend because of his work schedule.
Variety show host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) said he was “shattered” by the news of his friend’s death, adding that he had promised to present Huang with a Golden Bell Award at next year’s ceremony.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that