Chinese man stabs himself in front of Presidential Office

[Tadakatsu Honda]

Chinese man stabs himself in front of Presidential Office (update)

Central News Agency
2013-11-12 10:34 PM

The Presidential Office. (CNA file photo)

Taipei, Nov. 12 (CNA) A Chinese tourist was rushed to a hospital Tuesday after he apparently tried to commit suicide Tuesday in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei, according to the police.

Standing on Ketagalan Boulevard, the 44-year-old man from Hunan Province produced a knife which he used to stab himself in the head, while shouting "I want to die," police said. He was earlier reported to be aged 35.

The incident took place in a heavily guarded area, and the man was quickly overpowered by police officers who grabbed the knife and called an ambulance.

He had a wound measuring seven centimeters in length on the top of his skull, police said.

The man, surnamed Chen, came to Taiwan as part of a tour group of some 30 people which arrived Nov. 5 and left Tuesday afternoon, according to the police.

Chen apparently told police that he carried out the act in protest against Taiwan's Veterans Affairs Council.

After arriving, he went to the government agency to ask for his grandfather's name to be admitted to the Martyrs' Shrine but was turned away, the police quoted Chen as saying.

He claimed he is the grandson of Chen Keqiu, who he claimed was an Army general during the war against Japanese invasion.

He is expected to be deported at a later date.

(By Liu Chien-pang and Jay Chen)