■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
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard