■ Politics
New presidential candidate
A Taichung jewelry merchant whose shop had been robbed but who has yet to see justice done, put pearls and other jewelry on sale yesterday to raise funds for a bid to run for the presidency of the Republic of China. Yang Tian-tzu (楊天錫) and Huang Chun-shen (黃春申) recently submitted NT$1 million to the Ministry of the Interior as a guarantee deposit, formally registering as the third candidate in the March 20 presidential election. Huang said his shop was robbed several years ago of more than NT$30 million worth of jewelry and that the case has never been resolved. Yang and Huang need to collect 240,000 signatures to endorse their bid. As of noon yesterday, they had managed to convince just 38 people to sign. If they fail to collect 240,000 signatures, their NT$1 million guarantee deposit will be forfeit, according to government regulations. If the Yang-Huang ticket manages to get the necessary signatures for the endorsement, they will have to submit NT$16 million as a guarantee deposit to make them officially registered presidential candidates.
■ Diplomacy
No Iraq contracts for Taiwan
Taiwan is not among the countries eligible to compete for contracts funded by the US for Iraq's reconstruction, while its allies like the Marshall Islands and Solomon Islands, that depend on Taiwan's financial aid, are qualified to bid for the deals. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to explain why Taiwan, which has vowed to help Iraq and delivered food and medical aid to the country, is ineligible to bid for the reconstruction contracts. American Institute in Taiwan spokeswoman Judith Mudd-Krijgelmans said prime contracts are open to offers or bids by companies from countries supporting and contributing troops to the US coalition in Iraq. Subcontracts, said Mudd-Krijgelmans, are open to "any companies."
■ Government
Lawmakers promise reform
Lawmakers yesterday resolved to advance an opposition petition for constitutional amendment to the yet-to-be-established special committee for constitutional amendment. The petition, which promotes creating a 113-seat legislature by 2007 and protecting the quota of female lawmakers, was the second one presented by the pan-blue Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and People First Party caucuses. The Legislative Yuan approved the pan-blue alliance's petition of a constitutional overhaul including the electorate's exercise of referendum to the Constitution. The opposition petition discussed yesterday stated that "the number of seats in the Legislative Yuan should be reduced from 225 to 113 in the 2007 legislative election."
■ Communication
NGO Web site planned
To promote exchanges between Taiwan's non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the international community, a dual-language Taiwan NGO Web site will be formally launched on Dec. 20, an official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The official said the site will be launched with a ceremony at the Taipei World Trade Center exhibition hall. He said that this would be the first time the government has financed an information exchange platform between Taiwan's NGOs and the international community, and the first time the government has set up an online NGO center. The Web site, www.taiwanngo.org.tw, also provides a portal to Taiwan's NGOs and allows browsers to gain an understanding of the present situation of the country's NGOs.
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