A military medical college professor who had mocked President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) while giving lectures to officers in the combined logistics command in October was urged to step down yesterday.
DPP Legislator Chang Ching-fang (
"Pan is a liar. The Taichung-based Chungtai Institute of Health Sciences and Technology, which hired him, should consider whether Pan is still fit to be a teacher. It is better not to let this kind of teacher do more harm to the students," Chang said in a press conference at the legislature yesterday.
He criticized Pan for his mockery of Chen in front of military officers.
Chang said Pan engaged in "improper behavior" during four lectures he gave to more than 200 officers of the combined logistics command in October.
Pan was a career officer who had just retired from the military early this year. He had been teaching for years at the Chung Cheng Institute of Technology, where he had been the chairman of the engineering department. After retiring from the military, he got a job at the Taichung-based medical college.
Pan has been invited for two consecutive years by the combined logistics command to give lectures to medium-ranked officers on the prevention of nuclear, biological and chemical attacks.
Pan did not create any trouble last year. But this year, Pan seemed to become a different man.
During the four lectures in October, Pan compared Chen to a man "whose brain could be cured by radiation therapy" and "who was so incompetent that all his followers became crazy."
Chang said he called the press conference because Pan did not show any sign of regret for his insulting of the president.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central