Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday ordered the National Police Agency to work closely with prosecutors to catch the mastermind behind recent allegations of game-fixing in professional baseball.
“It grieves the public to see these repeated occurrences of gambling in professional baseball games. Throwing a game is ... an act of cheating and failure to differentiate between right and wrong,” Wu was quoted by Cabinet Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) as saying.
Wu made the remarks at a closed-door Cabinet-level meeting held regularly to review the government's performance in maintaining public order.
During the same meeting, Minister of the Interior (MOI) Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said law enforcement officials would also prioritize implementing the newly amended Statute for Narcotics Hazard Control (毒品危害防制條例), which imposes heavier penalties on drug users, as well as measures against bicycle theft.
The ministry said that the number of reported bicycle thefts in the first three quarters of this year reached 2,843 — a 19.1 percent increase over the same period last year. Of those, 1,450 were recovered.
One of the anti-theft measures calls for bicycle producers to etch a serial number on each bicycle and for retailers to keep records of buyers to establish a bicycle registration database, the ministry said.
The ministry also reported that a third-quarter survey showed that only 36.37 percent of the public was satisfied with public order, an increase of 9.04 percentage points from the previous quarter.
The survey also showed that 14.6 percent of the public considered violent crimes a serious issue, down 4 points from the previous quarter; 29.26 percent said theft was a serious problem, down 3.05 points; and 44.39 percent expressed concern over the seriousness of fraud cases, down 6.43 points.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
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