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15 Facts About Chen Chi-li

1.

Chen Chi-li, nicknamed King Duck or Dry Duck, was a Taiwanese gangster from China, best known for heading the United Bamboo Gang.

2.

Chen Chi-li joined a local gang at 12, and United Bamboo Association was created a couple of years later; it was at this time that he acquired his nickname of "Dry Duck".

3.

Chen Chi-li became the head of the gang in April 1968; under his leadership, its membership would grow to over a hundred thousand, making it the largest gang in Taiwan.

4.

Chen Chi-li claimed he received the order to kill Henry Liu on 14 August 1984, from KMT officials angered by Liu's authorship of a biography critical of Republic of China president Chiang Ching-kuo, the son of Chiang Kai-shek.

5.

Chen Chi-li arrived in the United States on 14 September 1984.

6.

Chen Chi-li was identified as "the Asian man who couldn't speak English" by neighborhood children after the shooting, as he was found feeding candy to their lost dog while he had been staking out Liu's home.

7.

At his 1985 trial in Taipei, Chen Chi-li testified in more detail about the connection with the KMT, claiming that Admiral Wang had ordered him to kill Liu because Liu was a double agent, spying for both Taiwan and mainland China.

8.

Less than two months after his conviction, Chen Chi-li retracted his accusations against Wang.

9.

Five years after his release, Chen Chi-li fled to Cambodia to avoid further organized crime-related charges in Taiwan under Operation Chih-ping, a police operation which sought to round up various gang figures.

10.

Chen Chi-li had just been diagnosed with cancer, and his doctor had advised him to go somewhere relaxing and avoid stress.

11.

Chen Chi-li married Chen Yi-fan in a ceremony there in 1998.

12.

Chen Chi-li claimed the guns had been purchased for self-defense in the aftermath of the 1997 coup by Hun Sen.

13.

Chen Chi-li lived quite luxuriously in Cambodia, alone in his 2,600 square metres villa, while his wife and children remained in Taiwan.

14.

Chen Chi-li was hospitalised at St Teresa's Hospital of Hong Kong in August 2007 due to the worsening of his pancreatic cancer; he remained there until his death in October of that same year.

15.

Fellow Liu killer Wu Tun, with whom Chen Chi-li had remained friends, helped to organise his funeral; over three thousand people came to pay their respects.