Pom Pom kidnap victim could be alive, Taiwan lawmaker quotes Malaysian police as saying
Taiwanese tourist Chang An Wei, who was abducted from a Pom Pom Island resort off Semporna in Sabah on Friday, could still be alive, reported the Taipei Times today.
The report quoted Chinese Nationalist Party legislator Alex Tsai who said he had received the information from Malaysian officials.
Tsai also revealed he would be in Kuala Lumpur soon in the hope of meeting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and securing his help in keeping Chang alive.
He expressed hope that the Malaysian government could quickly find channels of communication to negotiate with the kidnappers, suggesting that both Malaysian and Philippine governments should join forces to rescue Chang.
Chang's husband, Hsu Li Min, 57, was found dead with two bullets in his chest on Friday when she was taken. Malaysian police believe the kidnappers are linked to a terrorist group in the Philippines.
Tsai said on his Facebook page that he was hoping that the Malaysian police would make Chang's safety the only consideration in their rescue efforts.
"The police and local government officials often make extermination of the captors their top priority, which would put Chang in even more danger. The best example would be the Rizal Park hostage-taking incident in the Philippines in 2010, which resulted in the deaths of eight Hong Kong tourists,” he had said, adding that Chang and Hsu were from his district.
The report in Taipei Times also noted that Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar had said on Saturday that the Islamic militant group Abu Sayyaf from the southern Philippines was believed to be behind the incident.
He had said that as the Philippine government was mobilising its armed forces nationwide to help out with the relief work of victims of Typhoon Haiyan, the terrorists were able to slip into the resort to commit the terrorist act.
The kidnappers have yet to demand a ransom, police had said.
Meanwhile, family members of the couple will be leaving for Malaysian tomorrow to claim Hsu's remains.
Chang's brother, Chang Ta Kong, and Hsu's brother, Hsu Li Ren, are expected to identify the remains and conduct the cremation here, following which Hsu's nephew would take the remains back to Taiwan.
Ta Kong had shown reporters in Taiwan a text message Chang sent him before she was kidnapped which said: "We are having fun on the island. Tell Mom that we will look out for our own safety and she need not worry.”
Meanwhile, it was reported in local English daily The Star today that Chang could have been the sole target of her abductors due to her links to Christine Chow Mei-ching, wife of Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou, a former schoolmate.
The report also said that Chang could have been targeted as she and her husband were wealthy, having gone into semi-retirement after selling off her garment factory to travel around the world.
It was also previously reported that Malaysian police believe Chang had already been smuggled into southern Philippines.
Police sources familiar with the activities of the Abu Sayyaf group had also said that the terrorists would normally use an intermediary to make their ransom demand.
"Usually, the Abu Sayyaf will make their ransom demand known within a week or two after abducting the victim. Now we just need to wait and see," a senior police officer had said.
Chang and her husband were at the resort's restaurant when a group of heavily armed men stormed onto the premises. – November 18, 2013.
