A high Taiwanese missile official was discovered lifeless in a lodge room on Saturday morning after struggling a coronary heart assault, in accordance with the nation’s official Central Information Company (CNA).
Ou Yang Li-hsing was deputy head of the Nationwide Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Know-how, which is owned by the Taiwanese army and is the protection ministry’s analysis and growth unit.
Taiwanese authorities stated there was no signal of an “intrusion” within the lodge room in southern Taiwan the place the 57-year-old died, in accordance with CNA. He was in control of supervising varied missile manufacturing tasks.
Ou Yang’s household stated he had a historical past of coronary heart issues and in addition had a cardiac stent.
His demise comes amid elevated tensions between Taiwan and China following Speaker of the Home Nancy Pelosi’s go to to the island, which China considers a part of its sovereign territory.
China has been finishing up live-fire army drills close to Taiwan as a part of its response to Pelosi’s go to, which the Chinese language authorities is strongly condemned.
Ou Yang had taken up the function on the army analysis and growth unit earlier this yr because the group goals to greater than double its missile manufacturing capability to round 500 in 2022.
That enhance in manufacturing capability is reportedly in response to what Taiwan views as a rising army menace from China. Chinese language forces have been conducting live-fire workout routines close to the island following Pelosi’s go to.
Ou Yang was on a enterprise journey to southern county of Pingtung on the time of his demise.
Taiwan’s Apple Every day reported on Saturday that Ou Yang’s employees knocked on his lodge room and when he didn’t reply, lodge employees opened the door and located him lifeless. Police attended the scene and reviewed safety footage however discovered no proof of an intrusion.
Newsweek has requested the federal government of Taiwan for remark.
On Friday, the Taiwanese Protection Ministry stated that Chinese language ships and warplanes had crossed the mid-line of the Taiwan Strait as a part of these drills. The mid-line is taken into account an unofficial buffer zone between China and Taiwan.
China additionally introduced unspecified sanctions towards Pelosi and her fast household over her journey to the island, whereas additionally saying the nation was ending cooperation with the US in quite a lot of areas, together with local weather change and repatriation of unlawful immigrants.
The US, together with most different nations, doesn’t formally acknowledge Taiwan as an impartial nation however successive US administrations have offered key help to the island, together with supplying arms.
Replace 08/06/22 04.15am ET: This text was up to date to incorporate extra data.
SAM YEH/AFP/GETTY