American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Sandra Oudkirk yesterday expressed condolences on behalf of the US government over a shooting at a Taiwanese church in California that killed one and injured five people — one of many messages of support and condemnation since the incident on Sunday.
Oudkirk called Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) with the message, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, while also posting a statement on the AIT’s Facebook page.
In the post, Oudkirk wrote that she would like to express “our heart-felt condolences to all of the victims and their families of the shooting that took place at Geneva Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, California on May 15.”
Photo: AP
“The law enforcement investigation is ongoing and we commend the exceptional heroism and bravery exhibited by the churchgoers. We are keeping the Taiwanese community affected by this tragedy in our thoughts and wish them peace and comfort during this incredibly difficult time,” Oudkirk wrote.
The Presbyterian Church in Taiwan yesterday held a meeting of its standing committee in Hsinchu to discuss the shooting, at which committee chairman Tai Shuo-kan (戴碩欽) and church director-general Chen Hsin-liang (陳信良) held a moment of silence for John Cheng (鄭達志), 52, who died in the incident.
Cheng, a sports medicine doctor who is survived by a wife and two children, has been hailed a hero for charging at the shooter in an attempt to disarm him, allowing others to intervene.
Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes called Cheng’s action “a meeting of good versus evil” that probably saved the lives “of upwards of dozens of people.”
Johnny Stanton, a fullback for the National Football Association’s Cleveland Browns, wrote on Twitter that Cheng was his primary care physician and an “absolute hero.”
“He attacked the gunman and helped save so many in that church. I just wanted his name to be known. He will be missed,” Stanton wrote.
Baylor University in Waco, Texas, also remembered Cheng as a class of 1991 graduate.
“Dr John Cheng died Sunday, literally taking the bullet for fellow congregants while heroically tackling the gunman at an Orange County church. Please join us in praying for those who knew & loved him,” the university wrote on Twitter.
Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles Director-General Louis Huang (黃敏境) said that all Taiwanese living in the US are friends and family.
“We all live in a free and open, diverse democratic society with the same goal of building a family,” Huang said. “People with different views have to respect each other. Simply, that’s what democracy is all about. People might hold different views ... but it doesn’t mean they have the right to attack anyone.”
Liu Pengyu (劉鵬宇), spokesman for China’s embassy in the US, told The Assocated Press via e-mail that the Chinese government has “consistently condemned incidents of violence.”
“We express our condolences to the victims and sincere sympathy to the bereaved families and the injured,” Liu said.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) wrote on Facebook that “ideology has become a reason for genocide.”
Taiwanese need to “face up to hateful speech and organizations” backed by the Chinese Communist Party, Lin said, singling out the United Front Work Department, which seeks to advance Beijing’s political agenda in Taiwan and among overseas Chinese communities.
Additional reporting by AP
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS