■ Crime
Man caught with heroin
A man hiding 745 grams of heroin in his shoes was arrested Tuesday evening after customs officials noticed him walking clumsily at Kaohsiung International Airport, an officer at the Kaohsiung Aviation Police Station said yesterday. He said the suspect, Ke Ching-teh, told the police that he received the shoes and heroin from a friend in Cambodia. The heroin he was caught with has an estimated street value of NT$10 million (US$294,000).
■ Weather
Cold front arriving Friday
Taiwan's weather will warm up for the next couple of days before turning cold on Saturday, the Central Weather Bureau forecast yesterday. Meteorologists said temperatures on Mount Jade fell to minus 8.2?C Tuesday evening, while temperatures in Chiayi and Tamshui fell to 10.7?C and 12.4?C, respectively, early yesterday morning. Temperatures around the island are expected to drop again between Saturday and Tuesday after the arrival of a cold front on Friday afternoon, the meteorologists said.
■ Diplomacy
Chien visits Guatemala
Control Yuan President Fredrick Chien (錢復) arrived in Guatemala City on Tuesday to attend the inauguration of Guatemalan president-elect Oscar Berger on behalf of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Chien and his wife arrived in the Guatemalan capital in the company of Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Huang Lung-yuan (黃瀧元) and several other officials. In addition to attending the ceremony, Chien will hold talks with Berger and the outgoing Guatemalan president, as well as special envoys of other countries attending the ceremony. Chien's mission is scheduled to be completed on Jan. 16.
■ Politics
DPP eyes special sessions
The legislative caucus of the Democratic Progressive Party yesterday proposed that special legislative sessions be held on Jan. 16, Jan. 19 and Jan. 20 to discuss two bills introduced before the last session went into recess on Tuesday. Caucus leader Tsai Huang-lang (蔡煌瑯) said the party hoped that opposition parties would agree to the extraordinary sessions so that bills on the government's "10 New Construction Projects" and a constitutional amendment to cut the legislature in half could be discussed. He expressed the hope that the bills would be passed as soon as possible and described them as important to the future of the country.
■ Media
GIO funds film project
National Geographic Channels International (NGCI) has signed an agreement with the Government Information Office (GIO) to collaborate on a pilot project promoting documentary films made by local production companies, GIO officials said yesterday. Under the program, NGCI and the GIO will jointly provide US$400,000 for project development and production, with three documentaries to be filmed in Taiwan and another to be filmed elsewhere in Asia. Proposals will be accepted next month, followed by a workshop for a shortlist of invitees in May. The winning projects will be announced following the workshops, and contracts for production issued in June. Under the supervision of a joint NGCI-GIO production board, the four films will be produced for screening next year, and will provide an opportunity for local production companies to join the ranks of internationally renowned filmmakers.
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