A Taoyuan man surnamed Feng (馮) is facing charges of assault causing bodily harm after he injured a friend surnamed Chung (鍾) with a high-pressure air wand in April last year.

Feng, 45, used the air wand on Chung as a prank while Chung was urinating at his home on April 23 last year. Feng placed the opening of the nozzle in Chung’s buttocks before turning it on, causing Chung’s colon to rupture, and requiring him to have an artificial colon implanted. Air Compressor Mine

Following the incident, Chung said he felt only mild discomfort at first, but after the pain became severe, he sought emergency medical treatment at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口).

Doctors discovered that Chung had a ruptured colon, and performed a right colectomy and a loop ileostomy later that day.

Feng told prosecutors that he had meant for his actions to be a prank, and that he had not intended to harm Chung.

However, Chung said that he was not willing to reconcile with Feng outside of court given the extent of his injuries, and that he wished to proceed with legal action.

After an initial investigation, including a review of footage of the incident from a surveillance camera installed near Chung’s home, prosecutors proceeded with an indictment.

High-pressure air wands used by mechanics, like the one Feng used, are connected to air compressors, and can apply approximately 100 to 170 pound-force per square inch (psi), a technician said on Friday.

“Air compressors typically output about 140 psi, which is more than enough to cause human injury,” the technician said.

“Human organs simply cannot deal with the instantaneous pressure generated by a compressor like that,” he added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is aware that Beijing’s treatment of Hong Kong has weakened any possible sentiment for a “one country, two systems” arrangement for Taiwan, and has instructed Chinese Communist Party (CCP) politburo member Wang Huning (王滬寧) to develop new ways of defining cross-strait relations, Japanese news magazine Nikkei Asia reported on Thursday. A former professor of international politics at Fu Dan University, Wang is expected to develop a dialogue that could serve as the foundation for cross-strait unification, and Xi plans to use the framework to support a fourth term as president, Nikkei Asia quoted an anonymous source

LUCKY DATE: The man picked the 10th ‘Super Red Envelope’ in a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10 A man who recently broke up with his girlfriend won a NT$1 million (US$32,929) prize in the “NT$20 million Super Red Envelope” lottery after picking a card based on the date of their breakup, Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The man, in his 20s, bought the 10th ticket at a lottery store in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢), because he broke up with his girlfriend on Jan. 10, the store owner told the lottery company. The “Super Red Envelope” lottery was a limited offering by the company during the Lunar New Year holiday, which ended yesterday. The cards, which cost NT$2,000 each, came with

TOURISM BOOST: The transportation system could help attract more visitors to the area, as the line is to connect multiple cultural sites, a city councilor said Residents in New Taipei City’s Ankeng District (安坑) said the local light rail system might have a positive influence, but raised questions about its practicality. The Ankeng light rail system, which is to commence operations after the Lunar New Year holiday, would cut travel time for commuters from Ankeng to downtown Taipei or New Taipei City by 15 to 20 minutes, the city government said. According to the initial plan, there would be one train every 15 minutes during peak time and additional interval trains would run between the densely populated Ankang Station (安康) and Shisizhang Station (十 四張). To encourage people to

Compressor Air Portable CHAMPION TREES: The team used light detection and ranging imaging to locate the tree, and found that it measured a height of 84.1m and had a girth of 8.5m A team committed to finding the tallest trees in the nation yesterday said that an 84.1m tall Taiwania cryptomerioides tree had been named the tallest tree in Taiwan and East Asia. The Taiwan Champion Trees, a team consisting of researchers from the Council of Agriculture’s Taiwan Forestry Research Institute and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), in June last year used light detection and ranging (LiDAR) imaging to find the giant tree, numbered 55214, upstream of the Daan River (大安溪). A 20-member expedition team led by Rebecca Hsu (徐嘉君), an assistant researcher at the Taiwan Forestry Research Institute, set out to find the