Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Pang Chien-kuo (龐建國) was yesterday found dead outside his apartment in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖), apparently having jumped to his death after posting the message “I would rather die than live in this unjust Taiwan” in a KMT group Line chat.
Taipei police and fire officials said they received a report at about 7am that the body of a man, later declared dead at the scene, had been found on Neihu Road.
The man was identified as the 68-year-old Pang, who was known to have been diagnosed with cancer, police said.
The case has been passed to prosecutors to investigate the circumstances leading to his death, police added.
Pang, a former deputy secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation, had taught at Chinese Culture University in Taipei since August 2005.
He was a member of the New Party, the People First Party and then the KMT from 2006. His wife is Chiu Hsiu-chen (邱秀珍), a former TV news anchor.
KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) expressed condolences at the death of Pang on Facebook, calling for party unity in the face of tough challenges ahead.
KMT headquarters issued a statement expressing its deep sorrow and condolences over Pang’s passing, while also noting his “unjust Taiwan” post earlier in the day.
Former Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said that Pang had expressed disappointment with the current state of society and the KMT in their recent telephone conversations.
This could be why he gave up fighting, Hau said.
Pang was hired by Hau after the latter was elected Taipei mayor in 2006, and served as deputy chief convener of the city administration advisory team.
The KMT has suffered a string of defeats, including the latest double loss in a Taichung legislative by-election and the recall vote against independent Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐) in Taipei on Sunday.
Last month, the 103-year-old party saw all four of the referendum proposals it backed — including two initiated by the party — fail at the polls.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS