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Top Taiwan defence research expert, 57, who was in charge of missile production is found dead in his hotel room ‘of a heart attack’ amid fresh tensions with China

August 6, 2022

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By JONATHAN ROSE FOR MAILONLINE Reported by: Daily Mail

Ou Yang Li-hsing, 57, was the deputy head of the military-owned NCSIST
Authorities said the hotel room showed no sign of any ‘intrusion’, CNA said
His family said he had a history of heart disease and had a cardiac stent
Ou Yang was reportedly on a business trip to the southern county of Pingtung

The deputy head of Taiwan defence ministry’s research and development unit was found dead on Saturday morning in a hotel room, succumbing to a heart attack, according to the official Central News Agency.

Ou Yang Li-hsing, deputy head of the military-owned National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST), had died in a hotel room in southern Taiwan.

Authorities said 57-year-old Ou Yang died of a heart attack and the hotel room showed no sign of any ‘intrusion’, CNA said.

His family said he had a history of heart disease and had a cardiac stent, according to the report.

Ou Yang was on a business trip to the southern county of Pingtung and he had assumed the post early this year to supervise various missile production projects.

The military-owned body is working to more than double its yearly missile production capacity to close to 500 this year, as the island boosts its combat power amid what it sees as China’s growing military threat.

The deputy head of Taiwan defence ministry’s research and development unit was found dead on Saturday morning in a hotel room. Pictured: Tien Kung II Missile Launcher Display at Hukou Camp Ground

An enraged China halted dialogue with the US as part of their retaliation for Nancy Pelosi’s ‘provocative’ Taiwan visit – with diplomatic tensions reaching boiling point

It come as an enraged China halted dialogue with the US on climate change, military issues and anti-drug work as part of their retaliation for Nancy Pelosi’s ‘provocative’ Taiwan visit – with diplomatic tensions reaching boiling point.

Earlier, Beijing decided to sanction House of Representatives Speaker Pelosi and her immediate family in response to her ‘vicious’ actions and after their military fired 11 ballistic missiles into the Taiwan Strait – with five landing in Japan’s exclusion zone – and surrounded the island.

‘Despite China’s serious concerns and firm opposition, Pelosi insisted on visiting Taiwan, seriously interfering in China’s internal affairs, undermining China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, trampling on the one-China policy, and threatening the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait,’ a foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

A spokesman for the communist government then compared the United States’ behavior to the slaying of George Floyd at the hands of cops in Minneapolis.

Hua Chunying wrote: ‘We cannot allow the US to take itself as “world policeman” and treat other countries like George Floyd whom it can bully and strangle at will.’

It emerged that the White House summoned Chinese ambassador Qin Gang on Thursday to condemn escalating actions against Taiwan and reiterate that the United States does not want a crisis in the region.

The Biden administration has thrown their support behind Pelosi’s trip as a way to promote democracy in Taiwan and have criticized Beijing’s ‘sabre rattling’ and ‘unnecessary’ military drills.

‘After China’s actions overnight, we summoned Ambassador Qin Gang to the White House to démarche him about (China’s) provocative actions,’ White House spokesman John Kirby told the Washington Post. A démarche is a protest through diplomatic channels.

‘We condemned the PRC’s military actions, which are irresponsible and at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.’

On Friday morning, Taiwan condemned its ‘evil neighbor’ China as huge military drills once-again encircled the self-governing island – drawing harsh criticism from its allies.

Taipei said multiple Chinese warships and fighters today crossed the ‘median line’ that runs down the center of the Taiwan Strait, separating it from the mainland.

The line is an unofficial but previously widely-recognized border that Beijing insists ‘no longer exists,’ as it tries to exert control over its much smaller neighbor.

China carries out unprecedented military drills around Taiwan Island:

The White House on Friday once again rapped Beijing for its rhetoric and recent escalations.

‘We don’t want a crisis. We’re not seeking a crisis,’ White House communications coordinator for national security John Kirby told reporters. ‘And quite frankly there’s no reason for a crisis to erupt out of this.’

‘It’s the Chinese side that has been issuing bellicose rhetoric and threats,’ he said.

He called on China to stop ‘provocative military exercises’ and end the rhetoric.

‘There was nothing inconsistent about the speaker’s trip about the one China policy,’ he said, calling China’s latest move an ‘overreaction.’

He said despite China’s move to pull back military contacts with the U.S., there were still channels between ‘very senior members,’ and that ‘unit-to-unit’ contacts were still possible.

But he acknowledged that during a ‘At a time of tension, and things are certainly tense, you want to be able to talk.’

Beijing’s latest moves comes after a day in which China fired barrages of missiles at Taiwan – some of which flew over the island for the first time – as it held massive war games, that state media say are a rehearsal for an invasion.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized those missile launches – some of which landed in Japanese waters – calling them a ‘significant escalation.

Beijing began the military drills late Tuesday as Nancy Pelosi, US House Speaker, visited the island and says they will continue until midday Sunday.

Taipei reported that Chinese fighter jets and ships crossed the ‘median line’ that runs down the Taiwan Strait on Friday morning.

‘As of 11am, multiple batches of Chinese warplanes and warships conducted exercises around the Taiwan Strait and crossed the median line of the strait,’ Taipei’s defense ministry said in a statement.

Chinese incursions have become more common since Beijing declared in 2020 that the unofficial border no longer existed.

AFP journalists on the picturesque Chinese island of Pingtan saw a fighter jet flying overhead, prompting tourists to snap photos as it flew along the coast.

A Chinese military vessel was also visible sailing through the Taiwan Strait, they added.

Beijing has insisted its war games are a ‘necessary’ response to a visit to the self-ruled, democratic island by Pelosi, but Washington countered that China’s leaders had ‘chosen to overreact.’

They point out that a similar visit by male senators just weeks before had passed off without a response.