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Chen and Lu, only minutes before the
shooting incident
The 2004 President Chen and Vice President Lu
Assassination Attempt, also known as the 3-19
Presidential Assassination Attempt (traditional Chinese:
三一九槍擊事件) was an assassination
attempt on President Chen Shui-bian
and Vice President Annette
Lu while they were campaigning in Tainan on March 19, 2004, the day before Taiwan's presidential election. Their injuries were
not life-threatening, and both Chen and Lu were released from
Chi-Mei Hospital on the same day without losing consciousness or
undergoing surgery.
Nevertheless, the attack provoked shock and unease in Taiwan, where
political violence of this
kind is commonplace against non-KMT members 40 years earlier. Conspiracy
theorists who support Chen believe the "assassination" was supposed
to remove Chen and Lu from the election on the next day. Others
believe this was to make Chen and Lu seems sympathetic for the
voters due to the unusual circumstances and evidence of the
shootings. Both Chen and Lu won by 29,500 votes. In August 2005,
the case was officially closed with all leads pointing to one
single deceased suspect, Chen Yi-hsiung, but Chen's opponents as
well as Annette Lu have insisted on continuing the
investigation.[1]
Sequence of
events
President Chen and Vice President Lu were standing in the back
seat of an open convertible Jeep moving slowly through a
crowded street. One bullet penetrated the windshield of the
American Jeep, ripped through multiple layers of clothing, grazed
Chen's stomach and was stopped in his clothes. Chen received a
flesh wound 8 cm long and 2 cm deep (four inches long, an
inch wide, and an inch deep). The other bullet penetrated the
windshield and hit the vice president's knee cast (she was wearing
a knee cast due to an earlier injury) and was found in the Jeep. At
first both believed that they had been hit by firecrackers, which
are common in Taiwanese political parades and rallies. Chen
realized that it was something more serious when he noticed that he
was bleeding from the abdomen and that there was a bullet hole in
the window.
- At around 1:45 pm, Chen reported pain in his abdomen, and Lu,
in her knee.
- At 2:00 pm, they were both taken to the Chi-Mei Hospital.
- At 3:30 pm, the spokesperson for the president, Chiou I-Jen,
announced that the "National Security Mechanism" has been
activated.
- At 5:30 pm, both the Pan-Blue and Pan-Green coalitions
announced that they would cease all scheduled campaigning
activities.
- At 5:45 pm, the hospital announced that the president had
suffered an 11 cm long, 2 cm wide gash across his
abdomen.
- At 6:00 pm, two shells were found on the campaign route where
the apparent assassination attempt took place.
- At 9:00 pm, the president returned to his official
residence.
- At 11:00 pm, in a video released to the public, the president
urged the Taiwanese people to remain calm and indicated that
neither his health nor the security of Taiwan was threatened.
The next day's election was not postponed, as Taiwanese law only
allows for suspension of election upon the death of a candidate.
Chen's opponent, Lien
Chan, and Lien's campaign manager Wang Jin-ping tried
to visit Chen on the night of the incident, but were unable to see
the president because he was resting. Chen Shui-bian appeared in
public the next day when he turned out to cast his vote.
Investigation beginning
Within hours, police announced that the crime was not political,
and that the People's Republic of China
was not involved. In Internet chat rooms and on talk radio, some Pan-Blue supporters theorized
that the incident was staged in order for Chen to gain sympathy
votes. Meanwhile, some Pan-Green supporters theorized
that the assassination was a part of China and those pro-China
politicians' plot to claim Chen's life and crush Taiwan's
democracy. The rumor of a failed assassination plotted by China
spread rapidly among pro-independence underground radio networks in
hours.
These speculations were (and still are), however, considered
highly offensive by both camps, and were not condoned by the
leaderships of the two sides until after Chen had already won the
election.
Two bullet casings were found by a civilian under a police car
after it was driven away. The casings found suggested that only two
shots were fired at the motorcade. Their assembly also suggested
that they were fired from home-made guns. It is unclear as to
whether they were fired from the same gun, or from different
guns.
The police did not find or identify any suspect involved in the
shooting. There were several people the police wanted to question
based on erratic behavior, such as leaving the scene in a hurry as
recorded by surveillance camera. A few people showed up after they
recognized themselves on the broadcast footage, but these proved to
be inconclusive.
The bullet trajectory proposed by the police was that a bullet
struck the windshield, entered Lu's knee, and then fell out.
Another bullet fired from the Jeep's side struck Chen's stomach and
traveled through his jacket and lodged in the rear of the jacket
until recovered by the hospital staff.
Investigation conclusion
On March 29, three American forensic scientists arrived in Taiwan
to help with the investigation. They were Dr. Cyril Wecht, a forensic
expert, Michael Haag, an expert on bullet trajectory, and Timothy
Palmbach, an expert on crime scene integrity. Wecht personally
examined Chen's belly and concluded it was consistent with a
gunshot wound.
They were followed by Henry C. Lee on April 9.
After examining the Jeep, he deduced that the shots were fired from
the outside because there were shards of glass on the Jeep's floor.
But due to the incompleteness of evidence preservation, and the
lack of an accurate record on the Jeep's speed at the day of
procession, he pointed out that it might be impossible to determine
from which direction the bullets entered the Jeep.
Interior Minister Yu Cheng-hsien announced his resignation on
April 4, and National Security Bureau director Tsai Chao-ming
stepped down the week before to take responsibility for the
shooting, in keeping with the Taiwanese tradition that government
officials take responsibility for perceived or implied dereliction
of duty.
On August 24, 2004, the Pan-Blue controlled Legislative
Yuan approved legislation setting up the "3-19 truth
investigative commission" to probe the shooting. According to the
number of seats they have in the current 5th Legislative
Yuan, each party will appoint members for the new commission.
The commission will have the right to interview government
officials and demand documents, and will be asked to present its
findings to the legislature infinitely without time constraint. As
part of the law, no one is permitted to elect silence or to
influence the commission's investigation. The commission is also
authorized to command a government prosecuting attorney, to
unilaterally utilize the disaster reserve funds from the Executive Yuan,
and to override court verdicts. Because such a law was suspected
unconstitutional, the Pan-Green Coalition opposed the
commission. Some Taiwanese nationals actually referred the
commission as the "3-19 truth in-the-making commission".[2]
Dr. Henry C. Lee submitted a 130-page report and a CD containing
150 photos to Andrew Hsia, director general of Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New
York on August 29, 2004. He concluded that the incident was not a
planned assassination attempt because "a more powerful weapon than
a homemade pistol would have been used." He was unable to make a
conclusive report, but indicated his findings would help locate the
gun and its factory.[3] Dr.
Lee's findings prompted immediate outrage from conspiracy theorists
as it did not fit well with either side.
On September 9, 2004, three men – Yeh Ho-chiang, 37, Chen
Ching-hung, 33, and Huang Chin-shou, 43 – were arrested at an
illegal weapons factory near Tainan possessing bullets matching
those found at the crime scene.
On March 7, 2005, Taiwanese police held a conference about the
shooting incident. Two suspects were named; Chen Yi-Hsun and Huang
Hung-Ren. Both of them were found dead shortly after the 319
incident. Chen was living in the vicinity and resembled one of the
unknown persons shown on police tapes in the hotzone (the "yellow
coat bald guy"). The tape was released by the police on March 26,
2004, and Chen was found drowned in a harbor on March 28, exactly
two days later. The connection between Chen and the weapon maker
was established by confirming Chen as being the 5th hand of a
possible weapon; additionally family members of Chen stated that he
left suicide notes, which according to the Taiwanese police's
interpretation hinted that he committed the crime, though the notes
had been burned by the family, and the interpretation held by the
police is at best tenuous. Additionally the family members were
reported to have recalled strange behavior of Chen following the
3-19 shooting. On the other hand, Huang also committed suicide with
a gun that was made from the same manufacturer as that of the
incident, and the bullet found shared traits with the one that hit
the Vice-President.
On August 17, 2005, the case was officially closed after the
investigators concluded that Chen acted alone.[4]
However, while there were no large-scale protests, there continue
to be lingering doubts among a substantial part of the population
of both sides.[5][6][7][8] Lien,
who happened to be leaving office as KMT chairman on the same day,
publicly expressed disbelief. A China Times poll purportedly showed
that only 19% of the surveyed persons believe that there had been a
sufficiently thorough investigation. Pan-Blue legislators have
called for continued investigation of the case, as has one of the
victims, Vice President Lu.
Questions from
Pan-Blue and counter-claims
- Pan-Blue supporters argued that the wounds inflicted upon the
President and Vice President were light and improbable, asking why
Chen was hit in the abdomen instead of the head and how the bullets
turned to hit the targets.
- Henry C. Lee suggests that it was not a serious assassination
attempt in which the assassin would usually aim for the head.
Investigators have said that the gun was made in an illegal
workshop, and the arrested suspect had admitted that the bullets
were only half-filled since he was afraid of being killed by his
own bullets.
- Pan-Blue supporters questioned the level of security, which
they thought was surprisingly low: both the President and the
Vice-President were standing up from inside a roofless, unarmored
jeep. They did not wear bulletproof vests
and proceeded slowly on the congested two-way street. Pan-Green
supporters said that this was to be expected as Taiwan has not
experienced significant political violence over the past decade and
no assassination attempt against a President has been made before.
Presidential candidates from both camps only wore bulletproof vests
occasionally throughout their campaign.
- This caused very serious aftershocks as the chief responsible
for safety resigned and several cabinet members requested
resignation. It is reported that the guards were wearing earplugs
because they could not stand the noise from firecrackers during the
procession. However, this does not explain why they did not notice
the bullet hole in the windshield until a few moments later.
- The bodyguards did not notice the bullet hole in the windshield
immediately. The National Security Bureau agents claim they did not
react because they thought it was a firecracker, but the hole in
the windshield was clearly visible in front of Chief Aide De Camp
Chen Tsai-Fu, and he did not react.
- This is still being investigated.
- The blood stain on the clothes raised some suspicion as it
stained horizontally onto the stomach part of his thick jacket,
whereas the blood stain could have trickled down his pants, not
parallel through the jacket since he was standing up, not lying
down.
- This is debunked as a higher-resolution photo actually
identified the purported blood stain to be red safety belts of the
jeep.
- However, there is also no blood on Chen's underwear. Since the
blood should have dripped down, there should be blood on his
underwear.
- Chen Shui-Bian claims he was wearing his pants low that day as
he was losing weight, and wore his pants 3 inches (76 mm)
below the wound.
- The blood on the undershirt is only 7.5 cm wide as the
distance between the two holes is only 7.5 cm wide according
to the ruler provided by Dr. Henry Lee in his report. This does not
match with the length of the wound which was 11 cm.
- There is still no response to this issue.
- The blood soaked through Chen's dress shirt, but there is no
visible blood on the interior of Chen's jacket, only oily stains
from the ointment used.
- There is no response to this issue.
- On 24 March, the Criminal Investigation Bureau claimed that
there is only one hole in the outside of the jacket on the right
side. However, in Dr. Henry Lee's report on 24 August, the jacket
has two holes indicated by red arrows on the right side.
- The Criminal Investigation Bureau continues to claim there is
only one hole in the jacket as indicated in their final report on
17 August 2005.
- The opposition, Dr. Henry Lee, and the Forensics Department all
agree that there are no fibers from the jacket on the lead bullet
head. The opposition claims that the lead bullet head did not
strike the jacket in question with one (or two) holes in it.
- Dr. Henry Lee wrote in his investigation book with a chapter on
319, that he does not know why there are no fibers from the jacket
on the lead bullet head, but only asked people who question this by
saying "If the Criminal Investigation Bureau really wanted to do a
fake, why didn't they just put the fibers from the jacket on the
bullet head?"
- Ballistic experts Warren Levicoff (U.S.) and Robert Tilney (UK)
hired by the opposition to comment on the pictures claim that the
fibers from the clothing on the lead bullet head do not appear to
be there from shooting the bullet through clothing because the
fibers would be engraved on the bullet head and in straight lines.
The fibers on the lead bullet are curly suggesting that the bullet
head was rubbed on the clothing and not shot through it.
- Dr. Henry Lee claims that if there are fibers from the
clothing, then the bullet hit the clothing.
- Pan-Blue supporters questioned why Chen was taken to Chi-Mei
Hospital, whose founder is a vocal supporter for the Pan-Green
coalition, instead of the larger and closer (in distance) Tainan
Hospital. Tainan locals countered that Chi-Mei Hospital is the best
and quickest hospital to go in Tainan on that day, and that the
director of Chi-Mei Hospital, Jan Chi-hsien, is an advisor to the
Kuomintang Party. Also, Lee Ming-cha, a lawyer for the Kuomintang,
was at the hospital to monitor preservation of evidence and found
nothing unusual.[9] Chi-Mei
hospital was not on the list of hospitals designated to treat the
President in case of emergencies.
- The Pan-Green coalition countered by saying that it was indeed
on an internal list not known to the public and that it was not on
the official list because it lacked a helicopter pad.
- An x-ray was shown by DPP Legislator Wang Sing-Nan at 2:45 P.M.
showing a bullet head in the back area which could have suggested
that the bullet was inside Chen's body and that he was seriously
wounded. At 3:30 P.M. in a Presidential Office press conference,
Secretary General Chiou I-Jen said that the bullet was "on his
body" and smiled. It was explained later that the bullet head was
lodged in Chen's jacket as it came to rest.
- According to Vice President Annette Lu's written statement, she
heard the doctor say the bullet was found in between the jacket and
dress shirt. The opposition then countered saying that the bullet
head should have fallen down if that were the case. The story
changed two weeks later as the government then claimed that the
bullet was found in between the undershirt and dress shirt so the
bullet head did not fall down. This is the claim even though there
are six or more holes in the dress shirt with a large "L"-shaped
tear where it looks like the bullet could have exited.
Additionally, Chen also waved to supporters from the jeep, walked
into the hospital, lay down for surgery where doctors lifted his
clothing up, and then walked into the x-ray room and the bullet
head still did not fall down.
- Tests done on bullets going through three articles of clothing
(undershirt, dress shirt, and jacket) show that because the
undershirt is thicker than the dress shirt, that if the bullet had
enough velocity to penetrate the dress shirt when exiting, then it
will break the dress shirt also causing the bullet to either exit
through the jacket, or lie between the dress shirt and jacket.
Tests show that it is impossible for the bullet to end up between
the undershirt and dress shirt.
- Pan-Green supporters claim that the bullet must have been stuck
in the clothing, so it didn't fall down.
- Pan-Blue supporters charged that the investigation of a
presidential assassination attempt was overly casual. The bullet
casing was found by nearby vendors under a double-parked car when
it was driven away more than three hours after the shooting.
Additionally, government investigation bureau agents were also seen
collecting video and photos of the scene half an hour after the
incident while the police did not arrive until about three hours
later.
- Some Pan-Green supporters would object that this claim does not
stand as the Taiwanese police confirmed the greatest progress yet
on March 7, 2005.
- On March 7, 2005, Police Commissioner Hou You-Yi claimed that a
suspect (Tainan resident Chen Yi-Hsiung) had been identified. Chen,
found on March 29, 2004, allegedly murdered to stop the trace, and
was also seen criticizing Chen Shui-Bian's government on a popular
talk show before the presidential election. According to the family
of the man, they burned his suicide notes. The wife of Chen
Yi-Hsiung gave a confession with her back turned to the camera
asking for forgiveness because of the incident. Pan-Blue supporters
claim that there is no strong evidence to connect Chen Yi-Hsiung to
the incident because the gun he allegedly used had not been found.
- The Police Bureau claims that their investigation from the
bullets and the casings found led them to a gunmaker, whom they
arrested. This man allegedly sold the gun to someone and it passed
through many hands before it was allegedly given to Chen
Yi-Hsiung.
- Recently, according to reports by the media in Taiwan, another
investigation suggested that Chen Yi-Hsiung was killed by another
person in the possible time period of his death (which, they
claimed, was between 18:00 on 28 March to 5:00 on the following
day), because his corpse was found wearing a formal suit, but told
family members he was to go fishing, instead of committing suicide
as the original investigative report said.
- Li Ao a popular political
critic and essayist who also ran in the same presidential election
with only a few hundred votes, claims that two separate guns were
used in firing the bullets, citing CIA sources (instead of one gun,
as declared by the original investigation). He has also claimed
that another assassin was present at the time of the shooting.
- The Pan-Greens have doubted the authenticity of the reports,
citing the results of many of Li Ao's claims during his
career.
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