Gangster makes commercial to threaten rival

An alleged Taiwanese gangster has chosen a novel way of threatening the life of a rival: He sent a video to a local TV station in which he promises to kill him the next time they meet.

Chou Cheng-bao, reputedly a member of the Celestial Way Gang, sent the video to Cable Station TVBS on Monday, less than two weeks after police say he was involved in a shoot-out with other members of the gang at a pub in the central Taiwanese city of Taichung.

The video was broadcast repeatedly on Taiwanese cable news stations Tuesday.

Wearing a tight-fitting black top and matching flak jacket, Chou brandishes a pistol in the direction of a table laden with automatic and semiautomatic rifles, and says he is gunning for Liu Rei-rong, reputedly another member of the gang.

“The next time I bump into you, I’ll kill you,” he says.

Taiwanese media say Chou was attempting to kill Liu during the Taichung shoot-out on March 18. They say Liu was wounded, though not seriously.

A police said Chou’s threat against Liu — and the public way it was made — may be an effort by him to raise his standing in the Celestial Way Gang.

“This was a blunt challenge to police,” he said, adding that police reinforcements would now be mobilized to try to bring him to justice.

By Sun Tzu on 28-03-2007