■Embezzlement
Lee will be left alone
The Taipei Prosecutors' Office said yesterday that no specific individual is being targeted by prosecutors in the investigation over suspected misconduct by Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英), chairman of the China Development Industrial Bank. Liu is being prosecuted for embezzlement, breach of trust, violating the Securities Transaction Law, corruption, document forgery and violating the Corporation Law when he was chairman of the KMT's Business Management Committee between 1993 and 2000. A prosecutor dismissed a report by local news media that the prosecutors' office is planning to arrange an interview with former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to learn about Liu's functions in the party from the former party chairman. Meanwhile, prosecutors will not rule out the possibility of appealing again for a re-examination of Liu's case as Liu's unconditional release on Tuesday was considered unacceptable by prosecutors.
■ Air crash
Ship sent to get black boxes
A marine salvaging company will send a ship to Taiwan from Singapore next Monday to help retrieve the black boxes and wreckage of a cargo plane of Taiwan's TransAsia Airways which crashed into the Taiwan Strait last month, the Aviation Safety Council (ASC) said yesterday. The cargo plane crashed into the sea off Makung, Penghu, Dec. 21 en route to Macau and its two pilots remain missing. Though military vessels have helped to detect the signals of the black boxes, rescuers have been unable to pinpoint the exact location because of rough seas and strong currents.
■ Compensation
228 victims may get a break
The Legislative Yuan's Home and Nations Committee yesterday passed the first reading of the draft amendment to the Statute of 228 Incident Compensation extending the time period for applying for compensation from the current five years to seven years. After the time period for applications had expired on Nov. 6 last year, legislators led by Huang Chong-yuan (黃宗源) yesterday submitted the proposal to the legislature to ensure that some victims of the incident won't miss the opportunity to receive compensation. If the amendment passes the second and third readings, victims of the incident who had failed to apply for compensation would be entitled to do so before the end of this year.
■ Nuclear waste
Ministry to talk to islanders
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said yesterday it will meet with representatives of Tao Aborigines before Jan. 15 to discuss issues regarding the relocation of a temporary nuclear-waste repository on Lanyu, known in English as Orchid Island. "The ministry is willing to discuss the issue with the Lanyu tribal council and representatives of all Lanyu residents to seek a consensus on the removal of low-grade radioactive waste from the scenic island," Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Yi-fu (林義夫) said at a news conference. Noting that the government respects the opinion of the Tao people and will not permanently store nuclear waste on their homeland, Lin said the ministry has signed a document pledging to exclude Lanyu from a list of possible sites for building a permanent nuclear-waste dump. Lin further said the Cabinet has passed a draft bill outlining legal proceedings to ensure professionalism and information transparency when choosing permanent nuclear-dump sites for low-grade radioactive waste.
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