Chinese man busted in Calif. church slay says he doesn’t like Taiwanese

The suspected shooter who opened fire on an Asian congregation inside a Laguna Woods, Calif., church has been identified by police as a Chinese immigrant motivated by his hatred for Taiwanese people.

David Chou, a 68-year-old man living in Las Vegas but originally from China, has been charged with one felony count of murder and five felony counts of attempted murder for Sunday’s shooting, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday.

He is being held on $1 million bail, according to online jail records, and is due in court Tuesday.

Chou, who was not a member of the Geneva Presbyterian Church (photo, with cop on guard), was “upset about political tensions between China and Taiwan,” Sheriff Don Barnes said.

The FBI has opened a federal hate crimes investigation.

China claims that Taiwan is a part of its country, even though Taiwan has been an independent nation since 1949.

Chou chained the entrances and exits at the southern California church and tried to superglue them shut during a Sunday afternoon luncheon in honor of a former pastor, then began firing, according to officials.

Molotov cocktails were also found around the church.

John Cheng, a 52-year-old sports-medicine physician and father of two, was killed and five victims — four men ages 66, 92, 82 and 75, and an 86-year-old woman — were injured.

The injured victims are all expected to survive.

Cheng charged Chou and tackled him to the ground, Barnes said Monday, allowing others to run for their lives. He was shot in the process.

Parishioners and a pastor were able to subdue Chou and hog-tie him until police arrived, according to officials.

“Without the actions of Dr. Chang, it is no doubt that there would have been numerous additional victims in this crime,” Barnes said.

The suspected gunman “had an absolute bias against the Taiwanese people, its country, as a Chinese or mainland national,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. He also left scribblings in his car regarding his hatred for Taiwanese people.