Houston Community News >> Taiwan Lawmakers Under Fire for Fake Campus Hostage Taking

4/21/2007-- Two Taiwan lawmakers found themselves in trouble Thursday for staging a fake campus hostage-taking at Taiwan's top university to test police response after the deadly shootings on a US college campus in Virginia.

Lin Kuo-ching and Lee Chen-mnan, legislators from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, staged the fake campus emergency Wednesday at the National Taiwan University (NTU).

With TV reporters in tow, the two men barged into a classroom at the NTU in Taipei and pretended they were holding the students - who were preparing for exams - hostage.

While Lin was brandishing a knife and a fork at the students pretending they were pistols, Lee used his mobile phone to call school authorities and police that bandits were holding a class hostage.

Within minutes, 55 riot police in 14 police cars arrived at the NTU and stormed into the classroom where the 'hostage-taking' was taking place, only to be greeted by TV cameras and the two smiling lawmakers.

After newspapers reported the fake hostage-taking Thursday, Lin and Lee came under fierce attack from NTU students, lawmakers and government authorities.

'They disrupted our preparation for the important exam. It was rude and selfish because they were only seeking exposure for themselves,' one student said on TV.

Some lawmakers blasted the pair for their lawlessness and for wasting the police's time and interrupting the students' studies.

Government spokeswoman Chen Mei-ling said Premier Su Tseng-chang is outraged and has ordered a thorough investigation into the incident.

Lin and Lee held a news conference Thursday, but only Lee apologized and Lin defended the fake hostage taking.

'I did it for the safety of the students and not for selfish purpose, so I refuse to apologize,' he said, wiping tears.

If the NTU files charges, Lin and Lee could be charged with disturbing social order or presenting false evidence, which carry a maximum three and seven years' imprisonment respectively.

On Monday, a shooting spree by a student at Virginia Tech University in the US killed 32 people.

(Contributed by Tajikistan News.Net)