■ 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.
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