California church shooter motivated by China-Taiwan conflict, say police

The suspect in the deadly shooting at a church in Orange County, California, on Sunday was motivated by the long-simmering territorial dispute between China and Taiwan, said authorities.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office told reporters at a press conference that the suspect, 68-year-old security guard David Wenwei Chou, left notes in his car that he did not believe Taiwan should be independent from China, officials. 

“We believe, based on what we’ve discovered so far, that he specifically targeted the Taiwanese community, and this is one representation of that Taiwanese community,” said Orange County Sheriff Don Barnes.

However, reports of Chou’s birthplace conflict. Barnes said that Chou was born in mainland China but moved to Taiwan before immigrating to the U.S. Chou maintained a grudge against Taiwanese due how he was treated while living there.

But the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office said Chou was born in Taiwan, holds a Taiwanese passport, and even performed his compulsory military service, reports the Los Angeles Times. He is also a U.S. citizen, according to reports.

Chou lived in Las Vegas but drove to Irvine Taiwanese Presbyterian Church in Laguna Woods, where most of the 100 or so members are elderly Taiwanese immigrants, and opened fire during a luncheon on Sunday.

The church’s services are conducted in Taiwanese, not Mandarin, which is spoken on the mainland.

John Cheng, the 52-year-old sports doctor who charged and tackled Chou after he draw his gun, was among the youngest present. The five wounded in the attack range from ages 66 to 92.

Tensions between China and Taiwan, which Beijing considers a renegade state and desires to reincorporate into the mainland, have frared up since the outbreak of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.