Man who rammed his car into president's residence released on bail
Central News Agency
2014-11-04 03:53 PM
Taipei, Nov. 4 (CNA) The man who deliberately rammed his car into a gate of President Ma Ying-jeou's official residence in downtown Taipei Tuesday morning was released on NT$20,000 (US$992) bail in the afternoon after being questioned by prosecutors.
Chen Ping-sung, 60, a New Taipei resident and former chief executive of a biomedical foundation, was detained by police after the incident took place shortly after 7 a.m. Chen, in handcuffs and a helmet, remained silent when he was asked "what do you have to say? " and "why did you ram into President Ma's official residence" as he arrived at the Taipei District Prosecutors Office at 11 a.m.
Chen crashed his sedan into gate No. 3 of Ma's official residence with a can of red paint hung to the vehicle's front bumper. The car was stopped after one of its front tires was pierced by spikes deployed in front of the gate. The can of paint burst open and splashed paint at the scene but no one was injured.
Chen was arrested and taken to a nearby police station for questioning. Presidential Office spokeswoman Ma Wei-kuo said the president was safe inside the building at the time of the incident and was immediately informed when it happened.
According to the police, Chen took the action to call attention to problems in Taiwan's medical system. He had posted a message on Facebook in September saying that the bureaucratic medical system has caused nine major medical "malpractices" that had cost Taiwanese patients their lives, and he urged people not to remain silent anymore.
(By Liu Chien-pang, Kelven Huang, Y. F. Low and Lilian Wu)
