■ Internet
Tainan plugs LAN
The Tainan City Government yesterday said that it is planning to establish more wireless LAN (WLAN) service transmitters in different locations in the city. According to the city government's rough plan, WLAN transmitters will be constructed at the Tainan Railway Station, An-ping Scenic Area, Tainan City Arts Center and the city government building itself. Internet surfers who log onto the Internet at these locations through WLAN services will be able to access free information about the city such as maps, government policies and guides to scenic attractions.
■ Crime
Taipei MRT groper indicted
Taipei prosecutors yesterday indicted a man for sexually harassing women on Taipei's Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system. The Taipei District Prosecutors' Office said that Fan Sheng-chun (范盛淳) allegedly sexually harassed women almost every day in July during morning rush hour by rubbing their hips. He was arrested on July 30 after one of his alleged victims yelled for help. More than three women have identified Fan as the man who sexually harassed them on the trains. Law enforcement officers are encouraging other women who were assaulted during this period to contact them to see if Fan was their assailant.
■ Crime
Pingtung con man arrested
Kaohsiung prosecutors yesterday arrested a man who allegedly said that he could help former Kaohsiung City Council speaker Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄) flee the country and tried to con Chu's wife Wu Te-mei (吳德美) out of NT$35 million. Prosecutors allege that Chung Te-jung (鍾德榮) called Wu more than three times last month and told her that he had the connections to help Chu escape to Palau. He reportedly told her it would cost NT$35 million to arrange Chu's escape. Wu reported the calls to the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors' Office and Prosecutor Hung Hsin-hsu (洪信旭) arrested Chung at his Pingtung County residence on Thursday night.
■ Energy
Lee says nuclear energy OK
Although nuclear energy is not an ideal source of energy, it can and should continue to be used if its waste can be recycled and effectively handled, Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh said yesterday. Lee made the remarks in a speech to the annual conference of the Association of Energy Economics. He said the world will face depletion of fossil fuels within 30 or 50 years. He said Taiwan must conduct more research and development into clean energy sources and seek to conserve energy, through such methods as using electric cars.
■ Politics
Fighting councilor ill
Taoyuan County Councilor Liu Mao-chun (劉茂群) reportedly attempted suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills yesterday and was taken to a local hospital around 4am yesterday. Liu's secretary later denied the rumors, saying Liu had taken the wrong medicine and then contacted the secretary to seek help after becoming ill. Liu gained notoriety after getting into fights last month with a female colleague, Taoyuan County Councilor Wu Pao-yu (吳寶玉). Wu accused Liu of having an affair and Liu then slapped Wu during a council session. Wu later bruised Liu during another session. Both women were suspended from the council for six months as of Wednesday. Liu reportedly went into hiding after leaving the hospital yesterday.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods