Taiwan actor Darren Wang photo:VCG

Taiwan actor Darren Wang, popular in the Chinese speaking world for his role in the movie Our Times, on Tuesday was reportedly arrested and is under investigation for a previous attempted murder. After he was arrested for being suspected of evading military service and document forgery two weeks ago, Wang this time allegedly beat a ride-hailing driver severely in 2024, according to media reports.

Taiwan-based media TVBS reported on Tuesday that Wang called a car-hailing platform for a car to send him to the airport. But when the car arrived, he was extremely dissatisfied and angry with the assigned car, saying it was “too poor.” Wang allegedly called someone together to beat up both the driver and the dispatcher from the car-hailing platform, leaving both severely injured.

According to another report from TVBS, Wang called the car after arriving at Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport in April 2024 and got into an argument with the driver while getting out of the car. Wang later complained this to his friend, a 32-year-old person surnamed You. Wang and You, suspected of instigating others to assault the driver, are under investigation for attempted murder.

According to Taiwan-based media ETtoday, the case was exposed because of Wang’s military duty evading scandal. After Wang’s phone was confiscated during the investigation into his military evasion case, prosecutors unexpectedly discovered evidence on the phone indicating that Wang had allegedly instigated You to assault others.

TVBS quoted Wang’s manager as saying that they are “in the midst of understanding” what has happened.

On February 18 Wang was arrested after being suspected of evading military service and document forgery. ETtoday reported that Wang has been notified to enlist for military service on March 13.