Samurai sword attack at Taipei's Presidential Office

A samurai sword-wielding man carrying a flag of the People's Republic of China slashed a military police guard outside Taiwan's presidential office on Friday.

Taiwanese authorities have arrested a 51-year-old man with a stolen samurai sword outside the island's Presidential Office Building. The attack took place when President Tsai Ing-wen was in the building attending a gathering for staff members' children.

The suspect, identified as 51-year-old unemployed man Lu Chun-yi, was arrested by Taiwanese authorities. He claimed that he had stolen the sword from a nearby Armed Forces Museum and the act was politically motivated, South China morning post quoted authorities as saying.

The sword was used by the Japanese imperial troops during the 1937 Nanking Massacre and engraved with the words: "107 people killed in the Nanking battle."

Presidential Office spokesman Alex Huang said the wounded officer was transported to National Taiwan University Hospital and was in a stable condition with cuts to his neck.

Lu attacked the officer at about 10 a.m. and was quickly overpowered by other military police guarding the building, Huang said.

Meanwhile, Ministry of National Defence spokesman Chen Chung-chi has confirmed the suspect used a hammer to break a glass case displaying the weapon.