Austrian BASE jumper banned from Taiwan
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The National Immigration Agency (NIA) under the Ministry of the Interior yesterday decided to ban Austrian BASE jumper Felix Baumgartner from entering Taiwan again, after he made an unlawful jump from the Taipei 101 Tower on Tuesday.
NIA officials said Baumgartner parachuted from the 91st floor of the 508-meter skyscraper on Dec. 11, landing on the roof-top car park of the neighboring Taipei World Trade Center building. He departed for Hong Kong that same day, soon after finishing the jump -- a promotional event sponsored by the energy drink manufacturer Red Bull.
NIA officials pointed out that Baumgartner, who entered Taiwan on a landing visa, violated the Immigration Act by engaging in "activity inconsistent with the purpose of his visit" and being involved in an act considered by the authorities to be detrimental to Taiwan's national interests, public safety, public order or the good customs of the country.
In related news, Baumgartner and his friends went to a bar in Hong Kong to celebrate his successful jump from the world's tallest building on Tuesday night.
He told a TVBS reporter that he tried two years ago to make a legal jump, but was rejected by the management of the Taipei 101 Tower. After two years of preparation,"I decided to come back in 2007 and try it illegally," he said.
Baumgartner also told the reporter he had to fly to Hong Kong immediately after finishing the jump, for fear of being jailed in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Taipei police said despite having already left Taiwan, they are planning to refer Baumgartner for prosecution on charges of endangering public safety. They also claimed Taipei 101 management could sue him for intruding into the building and damaging the building's tiles during the jump.
Taipei 101 yesterday stepped up security checks after Baumgartner parachuted from its top.
"We have stepped up patrolling frequency of the observation deck," Taipei 101 spokesman Michael Liu said.
"If he wants to make commercial use out of this dangerous stunt, that would violate our intellectual property rights and we may sue him for that," he added.
As an internationally renowned daredevil, Baumgartner has performed a number of dangerous stunts throughout his career.
They include a skydive in 1999 from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- then the world's highest skyscraper -- and a jump from the Christ statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, that same year.
In 2003, he became the first person to skydive across the English Channel using a specially made fiber wing, and in 2004, he became the first person to BASE jump from the Milau Viaduct in France.
In 2006, he skydived into and then BASE jumped from the Turning Torso building in Malmo, Sweden.
No comments:
Post a Comment