■ Politics
Beijing denies Chu in China
China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Zhang Mingqing (莊銘清) said yesterday that former Kaohsiung city council speaker Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄) is not hiding in China. Chu disappeared earlier this month just days before he was to begin serving a 22-month prison term for vote buying. Local media reports have said that Chu had been recently spotted in Zhuhai, southern China. In Beijing, Zhang told reporters that the reports were wrong. ``Chu An-hsiung absolutely isn't on mainland China,'' Zhang said. Chu was convicted of bribing voters in last December's city council elections. He still faces trial for allegedly buying votes from his colleagues on the city council before his election as council speaker.
■ Society
Foreigner crime on the rise
The number of offenses involving foreigners has been rising steadily in Taipei, city officials said yesterday. According to Taipei City Government tallies, the annual number of offenses involving foreign nationals increased from 693 cases in 2000 to 899 last year. In the first nine months of this year, a total of 779 offenses involving foreigners were reported, up 24.64 percent from the same period of last year. As of the end of last month, Taipei had 71,608 expatriates, a 11.72 percent decrease from the number recorded at the end of last year. Among them, 77 percent had residence status and the remaining 23 percent were visitors. Expatriates accounted for 2.73 percent of the city's total population. Meanwhile, officials said 1,236 foreign nationals were found to have either illegally taken jobs in Taipei or overstayed their visas between January and last month. During the same nine-month period, 1,264 foreigners were repatriated or ordered to leave the country because they had illegally taken jobs or overstayed their visas.
■ Labor
Rail union votes for strike
The Taiwan Railway Labor Union (TRLU) yesterday held a member's conference to vote on a plan to strike over the Lunar New Year holiday and to select a new president. Union spokesman Chen Wei (陳偉) announced that Chen Han-ching (陳漢卿), known to be more militant and aggressive than the group's former president, had been promoted from secretary general to president. The members also voted in a plan of action for the strike. Chen Wei said that the strike will have two stages. The first stage will be a series of small strikes in select stations and departments before the holiday and be aimed at putting pressure on the government.
■ Charities
Help sought for Vietnamese
The Taiwanese charity group Compassion International (CITW, 中華至善社會服務協會) is urging the public to donate money for a medical program it runs in Vietnam. The charity has been funding medical treatment for poor disabled children in central Vietnam since 2001. It said that many Vietnamese suffer health problems attributed to Agent Orange, a defoliant used by the US military during the Vietnam War, and blamed for an unusually high ratio of birth defects. During the past three years, CITW has helped over 600 children receive surgery in Vietnamese hospitals and covered expenses for those with more serious disabilities who were sent to Taiwan for treatment. CITW is now hoping to get 600 people to donate NT$600 a month for the program for the next year. More information is available by calling 02-23560118 or visit the group's Chinese-language Web site (http://www.citw.org.tw).
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
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