Taipei, Taiwan – Taiwanese president condemned the killing of a Taiwanese church man in California. Driven by the island’s hatred, a ruling party lawmaker questioned whether Chinese propaganda was the driving force behind the violence.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s office said Tuesday that it condemned “all forms of violence”, expressed its condolences to the dead and wounded, and asked the island’s main representative in the United States to go to California to ask for help.
David Chow, 68, of Las Vegas, was due to appear in California state court on Tuesday for murder and attempted murder. Police said they hid the bombs at a meeting of Taiwanese parish elders on Sunday, mainly at the Orange County church near Los Angeles. One died, five were injured, mostly 92. A federal investigation into hate crimes is also underway.
Police said Chou, who according to them was born in China and is a US citizen, is clearly displeased with Taiwanese society. Referring to the head of Taiwan’s Economic and Cultural Bureau in Los Angeles, Taiwan’s de facto consulate in the city, Chow was born in Taiwan in 1953, according to the Taiwan Central News Agency.
According to Taiwanese media, Chou had ties to a China-backed organization opposed to Taiwan’s independence, but the details could not be confirmed immediately.
China says its territory will be forcibly annexed if necessary and has increasingly condemned the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, Tsai and their foreign supporters.
Tension between China and Taiwan has been at an all-time high in recent years as Beijing accelerates its military response to warplanes flying over the island.
“Ideology was the cause of the genocide,” Lin Chin-yi, a DPP MP in Taiwan, said in a message posted on his Facebook page.
Lin said Taiwanese face “hate speech and organizations” supported by the ruling Communist Party in China, and called the Joint Front Labor Office, which aims to advance China’s political agenda among Taiwanese and Chinese communities across the country. ‘abroad.
The United States is Taiwan’s main political and military ally, although the island does not maintain official diplomatic relations with Beijing.
Bi-him Hsiao, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador, said on Twitter Monday that he was “shocked and saddened by the shooting at the Presbyterian Church in Irvine, Taiwan and California.”
“I mourn the families of the victims and the American communities in Taiwan and pray for a speedy recovery of the wounded,” Xiao said.
Chow’s hatred of the island, recorded in handwritten documents found by authorities, appears to have started when he felt he was not treated well while living there.
The former neighbor said Chow’s life began after his wife left him and his mental health plummeted.
Apparently, the Chou family were among the nearly 1 million refugees who moved to Taiwan from mainland China when the Communists seized power on the mainland in 1949.
The former Japanese colony did not become part of World War II until 1945. It was ceded to Chinese nationalist rule at the end of World War II, and relations between the mainland and local Taiwanese were often strained.
There were frequent cases of bullying and confrontation between parts separated by language and lifestyle.
Concentrated in major cities, many continental youths have joined violently organized criminal groups with links to the Chinese military and secret societies, in part to protect themselves from Taiwanese rivals.
The Presbyterian Church is one of the most important Christian denominations in Taiwan and has been closely identified for decades with the pro-democracy movement during the state of war and the subsequent cause of Taiwan’s independence.
Source: Washington Post
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
