The Ministry of Justice must propose a solution to a slew of bomb threats over the past week, which were an intentional act of harassment to sow discord in Taiwanese society, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Liu Chien-kuo (劉建國) said yesterday.
Fushan Botanical Garden in Yilan County earlier yesterday received an e-mail stating that six explosive devices had been set in the garden, prompting it to shut for two days while a thorough search was conducted, Liu said in comments during a review of an amendment at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei.
At noon yesterday, the Kaohsiung City Government received an e-mail demanding NT$10 million (US$325,034) or bombs would be detonated at Shoushan Zoo in Gushan District (鼓山) and the Dragon and Tiger Pagoda at Lotus Lake (蓮池潭) in Zuoying District (左營).
Photo courtesy of the National Museum of Natural Science
Police were dispatched to conduct searches at both sites, with about 750 people evacuated from the zoo, which remained closed for the rest of the day as a precaution.
Penghu Aquarium and Farglory Ocean Park in Hualien County received bomb threats on Wednesday, while National Taiwan Library, Taroko National Park Headquarters, Yangmingshan National Park, National Tsing Hua University, the National Palace Museum and transportation companies, including the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA), Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and the Airport MRT received threats via e-mail earlier in the week.
The Keelung branch of Taiwan Bank reported a bomb threat on Wednesday, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) told reporters at a separate venue.
Kaohsiung police said that they had traced the IP address of the e-mail to the US, but it was likely the sender was using a VPN to conceal their identity and location.
Zhang Haichuan (張海川), a former student at Providence Univeristy, might be behind the slew of bomb threats targeting tourist hotspots in Taiwan, police said.
Zhang studied in Taiwan from 2016 to 2021 before returning to China during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He issued similar threats targeting the Presidential Office Building, the TRA, Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp and others in September 2021, and is wanted by the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office for allegedly issuing more than 150 bomb threats.
Zhang’s acts are harassing Taiwan and intentionally creating discord in society, Liu said, adding that there might be many other suspects who have not yet been identified.
The government should draw up contingency measures in case such harassment is conducted on a larger scale by organizations or states, he said.
What are Taiwan’s options if Beijing were to refuse to cooperate and instead encourage such behavior through inaction, he asked.
Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang (陳明堂) said the ministry was investigating the bomb threats, adding that it would try all channels to persuade its Chinese peers to observe the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement (海峽兩岸共同打擊犯罪及司法互助協議).
The Mainland Affairs Council said it had sent China a request regarding Zhang under the agreement, but had yet to receive a response.
The Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said it is planning to convene a cross-agency meeting next week to decide on a standardized response to the threats.
Additional reporting by Lu Hsien-hsiu and Chen Wen-chan
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported