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Alexander Family Hostage Crisis
On the evening of 18 November 1997, South African military attaché McGill Alexander and his family were taken hostage for approximately twenty-one hours by wanted fugitive in their home in Taipei, Taiwan. Chen forcibly entered the Alexanders' home at approximately 7:00 pm ( Taiwan time) that evening. Chen was captured the following day and executed roughly two years later. Background Chen Chin-hsing had been involved in the murder of Pai Hsiao-yen, the daughter of famed Taiwanese actress Pai Bing-bing. His wife and two other relatives were imprisoned for their alleged involvement in the murder while he was on the run. Incident At approximately 7:00 pm Taiwan time, Chen Chin-hsing () forcefully entered the Alexander house via the garage. Upon entry, the first person he encountered was McGill's twelve-year-old daughter, Christine, who was playing the piano at the time. Chen put his arm around Christine's neck, and forced her to walk upstairs to where the rest of the family was lo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini. It also completely enclaves the country Lesotho. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World, and the second-most populous country located entirely south of the equator, after Tanzania. South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot, with unique biomes, plant and animal life. With over 60 million people, the country is the world's 24th-most populous nation and covers an area of . South Africa has three capital cities, with the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government based in Pretoria, Bloemfontein, and Cape Town respectively. The largest city is Johannesburg. About 80% of the population are Black South Afri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Attaché
A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opportunities sometimes arise for service in the field with military forces of another sovereign state. The attache has the privileges of a foreign diplomat. History An early example, General Edward Stopford Claremont, served as the first British military attaché (at first described as "military commissioner") based in Paris for 25 years from 1856 to 1881. Though based in the embassy, he was attached to the French army command during the Crimean War of 1853-1856 and later campaigns. The functions of a military attaché are illustrated by actions of U.S. military attachés in Japan around the time of the Russo-Japanese war of 1904–1905. A series of military officers had been assigned to the American diplomatic mission in Tokyo since 1901, whe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward McGill Alexander
Edward George McGill Alexander (born 31 March 1947) is a former South African Army officer. Alexander has participated in airborne exercises and conferences with the British Army, and has jumped with and been awarded parachute wings by the Chilean, British and ROC Armies. He has written many articles on military topics, some of which have been published internationally, including one by the US Army. He has also authored or co-authored three books. A frequent speaker at symposia and conferences on military matters, General Alexander delivered the 2006 ''Turner Lecture'' at the SA Military Academy and in the same year delivered a paper at a ''Military History Conference on Small Wars and Insurgencies'' in Canberra, Australia. Besides the degree from the University of Stellenbosch, he holds an Honours BA, an MA (cum laude) and a PhD in history from the University of South Africa. Early life General McGill Alexander was born on 31 March 1947 in Boksburg. He grew up on farms i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taipei
Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the northern port city of Keelung. Most of the city rests on the Taipei Basin, an ancient lakebed. The basin is bounded by the relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung and Xindian rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city's western border. The city of Taipei is home to an estimated population of 2,646,204 (2019), forming the core part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, which includes the nearby cities of New Taipei and Keelung with a population of 7,047,559, the 40th most-populous urban area in the world—roughly one-third of Taiwanese citizens live in the metro district. The name "Taipei" can refer either to the whole metropolitan area or just the city itself. Taipei has been the seat of the ROC central government ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Republic Of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south. The territories controlled by the ROC consist of 168 islands, with a combined area of . The main island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', has an area of , with mountain ranges dominating the eastern two-thirds and plains in the western third, where its highly urbanised population is concentrated. The capital, Taipei, forms along with New Taipei City and Keelung the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Other major cities include Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan, and Kaohsiung. With around 23.9 million inhabitants, Taiwan is among the most densely populated countries in the world. Taiwan has been settled for at least 25,000 years. Ancestors of Taiwanese indigenous peoples settled the island around 6,00 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Time In Taiwan
National Standard Time is the official time zone in Taiwan defined by an UTC offset of +08:00. This standard is also known as Taipei Time () or Taiwan Time (). History The first time zone standard in Taiwan was enforced on 1 January 1896, the second year of Taiwan under Japanese rule. The standard was called with time offset of UTC+08:00, based on 120°E longitude. On 1 October 1937, the Western Standard Time zone was abolished and the , with time offset of UTC+09:00, was enforced in the entire country of Japan including Taiwan. This time was used until the end of the Second World War. On 21 September 1945, the Governor-General of Taiwan announced that the order issued in 1937 was revoked. Time Memorial Day was observed every 10 June from 1921 to 1941, which led to an increase in the observance of an official time. After the war's end, Taiwan was annexed to the five time zones system of the Republic of China and was classified in the "Chungyuan Standard Time" with time off ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Murder Of Pai Hsiao-yen
Pai Hsiao-yen (; 23 June 1980 – 20 April 1997) was the only daughter of popular Taiwanese TV host and actress Pai Bing-bing and Japanese author Ikki Kajiwara. Abduction, murder, and island-wide manhunt Abduction Pai Hsiao-yen disappeared after leaving for her school, Hsing Wu High School, on the morning of April 14, 1997. Her family received a ransom note demanding along with a severed piece of her little finger and a photograph of a bound girl. Press in Taiwan first reported the incident on April 23, 1997, which contradicted the accepted practice of reporting the kidnapping after its resolution. Some of the pre-planned ransom drops were aborted when kidnappers spotted police and media tailing Pai Bing-bing. However, after the abductors negotiated with the police for 11 days and changed the locations of payment more than 20 times, the police finally decoded the communication methods used by the abductors. In the subsequent police raid, one suspect was arrested while two oth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pai Bing-bing
Pai Hsueh-hua (born 17 May 1955), born Pai Yueh-o, better known by her stage name Pai Bing-bing (also spelled Pai Ping-ping), is a Taiwanese singer, actress, media personality and social activist. Life and career Born to an impoverished family in Keelung, Pai dropped out of formal education in her teenage years. In 1973, she won a prize in a singing contest held by Taiwan Television and following this success she pursued a career in the local entertainment business. In 1975, she moved to Japan to study singing and acting. At this time she had a relationship with Japanese comics writer Ikki Kajiwara and they later married. Their daughter Pai Hsiao-yen was born in 1980 but their marriage was quickly dissolved the next year after Kajiwara engaged in an extramarital affair and committed domestic violence. Pai Bing-bing had to return to Taiwan and raised Hsiao-yen as a single mother. Since mid-1980s, Pai has been gaining popularity for her bantering style, becoming one of the best-kno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Human Shield
A human shield is a non-combatant (or a group of non-combatants) who either volunteers or is forced to shield a legitimate military target in order to deter the enemy from attacking it. The use of human shields as a resistance measure was popularized by Mahatma Gandhi as a weapon of peace. On the other hand, the weaponization of civilians has also developed as a tactic by some non-state actors like ISIS. Legal background Forcing non-combatants to serve as human shields is a war crime according to the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, and the 1998 Rome Statute. According to law professor Eliav Lieblich, "Armed groups might be responsible for harm that they occasion to civilians under their control. But to argue that this absolves the other party from responsibility is to get both law and morality wrong." Law professor Adil Ahmad Haque states that involuntary shields "retain their legal and moral protection from intentional, u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Hsieh
Frank Hsieh Chang-ting (; born May 18, 1946) is a Taiwanese politician and former defense attorney. A cofounder of the Democratic Progressive Party, he has served on the Taipei City Council, the Legislative Yuan, as the mayor of Kaohsiung City, and as the Premier of the Republic of China under president Chen Shui-bian. Hsieh was the DPP nominee in the 2008 presidential election and was defeated by Ma Ying-jeou. Hsieh is currently the head of the Association of Taiwan-Japan Relations. Early life Born in Dadaocheng, Taipei, in 1946, Hsieh was a gymnast in high school and worked as a food vendor before college. He received a Bachelor of Laws degree from National Taiwan University. Hsieh then obtained a master's degree and later completed doctoral coursework (all but dissertation) in jurisprudence at Graduate School of Law, Kyoto University in Japan. He was a practicing attorney from 1969 to 1981, serving as a defense attorney in the martial courts following the Kaohsiung Incide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Premier Of The Republic Of China
The Premier of the Republic of China, officially the President of the Executive Yuan (Chinese language, Chinese: 行政院院長), is the head of the government of the Republic of China of Taiwan and leader of the Executive Yuan. The premier is nominally the principal advisor to the president of the Republic and holds the highest rank in the civil service of the central government. The predecessor of the President of the Executive Yuan was the Prime Minister of the Republic of China, and the first President of the Executive Yuan was Tan Yanqi; the first president after the constitution was Weng Wenhao; and the first president to take office after the government moved to power was Chen Cheng. Currently, the Premier is appointed by the President of the Republic of China, President without approval by the Legislative Yuan. The current President of the Executive Yuan is incumbent Su Tseng-chang, who took office in his second term on 14 January 2019 following the resignation of L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greeley, Colorado
Greeley is the home rule municipality city that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Weld County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,795 at the 2020 United States Census, an increase of 17.12% since the 2010 United States Census. Greeley is the tenth most populous city in Colorado. Greeley is the principal city of the Greeley, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and is a major city of the Front Range Urban Corridor. Greeley is located in northern Colorado and is situated north-northeast of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. History Union Colony Greeley began as the Union Colony of Colorado, which was founded in 1869 by Nathan C. Meeker, an agricultural reporter for the '' New York Tribune'' as an experimental utopian farming community "based on temperance, religion, agriculture, education and family values," with the backing of the ''Tribune''s editor Horace Greeley, who popularized the phrase "Go West, young man". Worster, Donald (1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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