■ Taichung
Harbor gets investment
In a bid to further develop Taichung harbor and make it into a free-trade harbor zone, the Cabinet yesterday announced that the government and the private sector combined will invest a total of NT$13.7 billion for the next five years. According to a press release, the Cabinet will invest NT$5 billion while the private sector will contribute NT$8.7 billion. The fund will be used to build public-infrastructure projects including 64 wharfs and 15 specialized areas within the free-trade harbor zone, as well as pay for the broadening and deepening of waterways.
■ Cross-strait ties
Pair convicted of murder
Two Chinese men have been sentenced to death in Shanghai for the murder and robbery of a Taiwanese businessman and his family, the Chinese government said yesterday. The Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court found Huang Ligang (黃利剛) and Cheng Liang (程亮) guilty of killing Song Yu (宋鈺), his wife and their four-year-old daughter during a robbery attempt on June 23, said a court official, who refused to give her name. The sentence was issued Tuesday after a one-day trial, she said. The attack prompted Taiwan to appeal for increased security for its investors in China, tens of thousands of whom live in Shanghai. According to the official Xinhua News Agency, Huang and Cheng stole a laptop computer and Chinese and foreign currency from the home, then fled in the family's four-wheel-drive vehicle. They were arrested two days later in a rural area of Jiangsu Province, Xinhua said.
■ Crime
Alleged embezzlers wanted
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles on Tuesday asked the overseas Chinese community to help locate a couple wanted in Taiwan. Liu Kuan-chun (劉冠軍), former chief accountant of the National Security Bureau, is wanted on charges of embezzling more than NT$192 million (US$5.5 million), while his wife, Meng Wen-hua (孟雯華), is wanted for allegedly assisting Liu in embezzling the money and in engaging in money laundering. Liu left Taiwan on Sept. 3, 2000, and his wife left the following day. Sources said that Liu first went to China and hid in Shanghai, while Meng took their two children to Toronto, Canada. Recent overseas media reports said that the family could be hiding in North America, possibly in southern California. Anyone with information concerning Liu and his family is asked to contact the office at (213) 389-1215, or write to the Investigation Bureau at P O Box 60000, Hsintien, Taipei, Taiwan.
■ Terrorism
Baghdad attack condemned
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday condemned the devastating terrorist attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad. In a press statement released by the ministry last night, the ministry also expressed its condolences over people who died during the attack. Top UN envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello was among the more than 20 victims who were killed in Tuesday's massive bomb blast, which could be felt more than a kilometer away. In the press release, the ministry stressed Taiwan's willingness to support the UN's plans for rebuilding Iraq and stated that Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) had sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to express Taiwan's sympathy for the victims and their families.
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