■Tiaoyutai
Officials express concern
Taiwan's Representative to Japan Lo Fu-chuan (羅福全) yesterday expressed Taiwan's concern to the Japanese Interchange Association (JIA) about a newspaper report that Tokyo has moved to reinforce its sovereignty claim over the Tiaoyutai Islands. Japan has claimed the uninhabited islands since 1895. Chinese claims are centuries old. Lo visited JIA Chairman Toshio Goto to assert the ROC's sovereignty over the Tiaoyutais. He asked the JIA and the Japanese government to verify the report and serve a detailed explanation to his office. The JIA is a quasi-official organization authorized to handle relations with Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic ties. The Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan's largest daily, reported last Wednesday that Japan had leased three of the five isles from an Okinawa resident.
■ Politics
Chen cheers economy
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) reaffirmed yesterday the government's determination to improve the investment climate in order to attract more investment from domestic and foreign enterprises. Chen made the remarks while receiving a group of outstanding entrepreneurs and manufacturers that were awarded the "Industrial Elite Prize," including China Motor Corp. Under the ongoing "Challenge 2008" six-year national development plan, the government will increase its investment in talent cultivation and R&D innovation, establish a global management center and improve the living environment in order to build Taiwan into a "green silicon island" and provide prospective investors with a high quality investment climate, Chen said.
■ Aviation
CAL plane misses building
China Airlines (CAL) admitted yesterday that one of its planes had a slightly off-course approach to Honolulu International Airport over the weekend but that the situation was under the control of air traffic controllers. Residents of a 41-story building near the airport, however, told of what they called a near miss by the Boeing 747. According to an Associated Press report, one witness, Ana Marie Vaisanen said she could see passengers inside the aircraft as it flew past her 12th-floor condominium at around 7am on Saturday. "This roar became louder and louder and louder ... and I looked out and there was a 747," she said. Television station KITV reported some residents as saying that the plane came within 9m of the building and that one of its wings passed over the fourth-floor recreation deck.
■ Judiciary
Justices asked to look at case
The Taipei Prosecutors Office decided yesterday to appeal to the Grand Justices again for a re-examination of the court's decision to unconditionally release Liu Tai-ying (劉泰英), chairman and CEO of the China Development Industrial Bank. Liu was re-arraigned by the prosecutors office on Dec. 31 as the High Court decided that the Taipei District Court should re-examine its decision to release Liu on Nov. 27. Suspected of receiving bribes and of embezzling while serving as chairman of the opposition KMT's Business Management Committee, Liu was first subpoenaed Nov. 27. The court ordered his release after hours of interrogation, on the ground that there was no urgency for his detention. A prosecutor said yesterday that he questioned not only the way that Liu's case was processed by the court, but also the professionalism of the judges who reached the conclusion of Liu's release.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai