■Accident
Five found dead at apartment
Four men and one woman employed at the same high technology company were found dead yesterday in their rented apartment in what authorities suspect was a case of carbon monoxide poisoning. The company, headquartered in the northern city of Chupei, was alerted yesterday morning when none of the five showed up for work. When police broke into the apartment, they found one man lying naked in the bathroom, the faucet still dripping. "The gas and water were still on [when the victims were found]," said prosecutor Chung Hsiao-ya of the Hsinchu District Court.
■ Crime
Su to get polygraph test
The Kaohsiung Prosecutor's Office plans to give a polygraph test to Su Hui-cheng (蘇惠珍), vice chairman and principal shareholder of the Zanadau Development Corp, as investigators have failed to make the bribery suspect reveal details of a questionable bank loan she obtained in 1994. Su was taken into custody by the Kaohsiung District Court Dec. 30 after being interrogated by prosecutors for 10 hours for allegedly acquiring illegal bank loans for a Zanadau land development project through bribery, fraud and profiteering. According to the prosecutor's office, between June and July 1994, Su used NT$390 million to acquire several pieces of farmland in Kaohsiung County.
■ Military
China protests joint drill
China protested yesterday against US plans to participate in Taiwan's biggest annual military exercises for the first time since 1979, saying such action "damages China-US relations." "We have read relevant reports from the media and I want to point out here that any kind of military cooperation or exchange between Taiwan and the US is a violation of the three Sino-US joint communiques and also damages China-US relations," foreign ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue (章啟月) said. "The Chinese side has already made solemn representation to the US side urging it to abide by its commitment made to the Chinese side on the question of Taiwan and stop any military exchange with Taiwan." Taiwan Vice Defense Minister Chen Chao-min (陳肇敏) last week confirmed a media report that US military personnel would take part in the Han Kuang 19 exercise.
■ Politics
Lien unveils platform
Opposition KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) outlined yesterday for the first time the party's platform for the 2004 presidential election, which envisions eight key development directions for "remaking Taiwan." Lien divulged his party's platform, codenamed "Project Happiness 2004," in an exclusive interview with Japan's Mainichi Shimbun daily. According to Lien, Taiwan has gradually lost its competitive edge since its first-ever peaceful transition of power between different political parties more than two years ago. Lien said the 2004 presidential election has become a crunch time for the opposition party to reverse the nation's current downward trend. "Project Happiness 2004" offers policy initiatives in eight major categories -- ensuring political stability, establishing what he called "quality democracy," cultivating peaceful cross-strait relations, upgrading government efficiency, boosting morale in the civil service, revitalizing the economy, promoting cultural development and enhancing social security.
Agencies
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