Shooting witness back in Taiwan

A key witness in the election-eve shooting of the son of Kuomintang honorary chairman Lien Chan returned to Taiwan from the mainland yesterday to try to clear himself of allegations of involvement in the incident.

Tu Yi-kai, a chief aide in Chen Hung-yuan's successful campaign for a council seat in Xinbei city, across the river from Taipei, was listed as a key witness after police found the suspect in the case had tried to contact him three times by phone before the shooting.

Tu suddenly left for the mainland on Wednesday, despite requests by police and prosecutors that he remain until the authorities were able to discover the motive behind the shooting of Sean Lien Sheng-wen.

Tu's rapid departure led to speculation that he could have been involved and had fled to the mainland, prompting him to return yesterday.

Speaking at the airport, Tu admitted he knew the suspect 'through helping a friend in settling a dispute several years ago', but said he rarely had any contact with him. 'I've not received phone calls from him for at least six months,' Tu said, while asking police to produce proof that he had communicated with the suspect before the shooting.

Sean Lien suffered a face wound after he was shot at close range by the suspect, identified as Lin Cheng-wei, at a campaign rally last Friday, the eve of the elections. He was about to make a speech in support of Chen when Lin pulled out a pistol and fired at him.