Author: Phillip Charlier

Gunman opens fire at Tainan City seafood store, takes a police bullet in the butt

composite image showing shooter firing then being taken away with a wound to his buttock
Crime and Criminals 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , ,

A police officer shot a man in the buttocks after he had already fired 23 shots into the door of a seafood store in Tainan City, yesterday, June 2. According to reports, a 32-year-old man, named Lin, fired 23 shots into the closed roller door of a shop in Wannian Street in Tainan City’s South District at around 1:00 pm. Surveillance camera footage of the incident showed Lin getting out of a silver Toyota Yaris and opening fire at the

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3 people injured as strong winds lash southern Taiwan

fallen scooter and tree in Kaohsiung City
Weather 
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At least three people were injured as strong winds in the wake of Typhoon Mawar brought down trees and power poles in several districts of Kaohsiung City today, June 1. Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau lifted a sea warning for Typhoon Mawar Wednesday evening as the tropical storm moved away from eastern waters towards Okinawa Japan. However, heavy rain and strong winds persisted in some parts of the island Thursday. At around 8:00 am in Kaohsiung City’s Lingya District, a tree

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Scooter rider runs for his life as gravel truck almost runs over him

scooter rider runs away from gravel truck
Traffic Accidents 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , ,

A man riding a motor scooter in Taoyuan City abandoned his vehicle and ran for his life after he found himself in the blind spot of an articulated dump truck making a U-turn, yesterday, May 30. In surveillance camera footage that quickly went viral on Taiwanese social media sites, the middle-aged man is seen pulling out of a gas station on Yongchang Road in Daxi District, intending to go left. The scooter rider stops and gives way when a tractor-trailer

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Typhoon Mawar to affect Taiwan weather from Tuesday to Friday

satellite RGB image of typhoon Mawar southeast of Taiwan
Typhoon 
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Typhoon Mawar is expected to bring heavy rain to parts of Taiwan from Tuesday to Friday, and a marine warning is expected to be announced later today, Monday, May 29. Long waves from the now moderate-level typhoon began to affect the east coast of Taiwan yesterday, Sunday. One person is dead and one remains missing after four people were swept into the ocean in two separate incidents on beaches in Yilan County and Hualien County, yesterday. Meteorologists say the typhoon

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Taiwan flags Chinese civilian car carriers as threat to national security

roll-on/roll-off ship with ramp on dock
Military Affairs 
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Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense is cooperating with the National Coast Guard Administration and National Police Agency to jointly monitor the movements of Chinese commercial car carriers docking in Taiwan, and vehicle ferries operating in and around the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan’s top military intelligence unit, the National Security Bureau, reported to the Legislative Yuan May 23 on the potential risks of the roll-on/roll-off ships to Taiwan’s security, saying that the MND is cooperating with the coast guard and police to

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Fast and Furious: Off-duty cop suspected of forcing driver to crash in road rage incident

vehicle flips after apparent PIT maneuver
Traffic Accidents 
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An off-duty police officer is under investigation for multiple charges, including attempted homicide, after he allegedly chased a motorist, bumping into his car several times, before apparently using a PIT maneuver to cause the driver to lose control and crash in Nantou County yesterday, May 21. According to the police investigation so far, the police officer, named Chiou, from Changhua County, was driving on a mountain road in Mingjian Township, Nantou County, when he alleges that a vehicle coming from

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`Roid rage? Champion bodybuilder smashes up convenience store, injures two police officers

shirtless muscular man sitting handcuffed on ground in front of convenience store
Odd News 
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Media outlets and social media users have dubbed a man “Taiwan’s version of the Hulk” after he went into a rage in a convenience store in Taoyuan City, damaging property, and attacking a clerk and police officers who attempted to calm him down. According to reports, the 28-year-old champion body builder and fitness coach, named Zhu, entered a 7-11 convenience store in Zhongli District, dressed only in shorts at around 9:00 am this morning. The convenience store clerk called police

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Man caught drunk driving twice in 24 hours: forgot how much the original fine was and drove back to the police station to inquire

two police escort a handcuffed suspect charged with drunk driving
Odd News 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A man in Kaohsiung City compounded his problems after driving to the police station while drunk to inquire about how much he would have to pay for a drunk driving fine he incurred the previous day. According to China Times, the 47-year-old man, named Chiou, was caught drunk driving on the morning of May 17. Chiou was tested and found to have a blood alcohol concentration of 0.22 mg/l. Chiou’s blood alcohol level was above the legal limit of 0.15,

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Parts of northern Taiwan on flood alert as rainy season front arrives

flooded underpass Hsinchu County
Weather 
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Heavy rain began falling in the early hours of the morning in northern Taiwan today, causing floods and power outages in Hsinchu County and Taoyuan City. The Hsinchu County Government declared a level three emergency response after the Central Weather Bureau issued a heavy rain disaster warning at 4:30 am this morning. From 2:00 am, rainfall in 10 cities and townships in Hsinchu County exceeded warning levels. From 3:25 am the maximum hourly rainfall in Hsinchu City reached 106 mm

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Taiwan coast guard deploys elite unit for high-speed intercepts of Chinese speedboats

coast guard special task unit officers board fast-moving speedboat
Marine and Fisheries 
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Taiwan’s National Coast Guard Administration has deployed a team of elite special forces equipped with high-speed assault boats to intercept Chinese poachers using speedboats to evade larger coast guard vessels around islands close to the coast of China. The Kinmen-Matsu-Penghu Branch of the coast guard has dispatched the Special Task Unit to Dongyin Island, Taiwan’s northernmost territory, to combat an expected influx of Chinese poachers during the summer season. Fish poachers from the coast of China usually take advantage of

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Witness says metro train was stopped when crane fell onto tracks: train then drove into it

Taichung City Mayor Lu Shiow-yen
Disaster 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , ,

A Canadian man who was aboard a Taichung metro train when one person was killed, and eight were injured in an accident, Wednesday, May 10, says that the train was stopped at a station when the crane boom fell onto the tracks. The man, who is unnamed in media reports, and described as a foreign English teacher, gave a doorstop interview as he stepped out of a hospital where he was treated for an abrasion to his head suffered when,

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