■ Illegal Labor
Chinese woman busted
A Chinese woman married to a Taiwanese man was taken into custody yesterday in downtown Kaohsiung for working illegally, according to law enforcement authorities. The woman was discovered to be working illegally when Kaohsiung police raided a shop allegedly selling bootleg brand-name clothing. Police said they found nearly 2,400 counterfeit pairs of brand-name jeans and other items of clothing. The haul is believed to have a street value of around NT$25 million (US$749,000). The woman, surnamed Tan, 40, is from Hunan province. She was working at the store as a saleswoman. She was taken along with the shop owner to a nearby police station for questioning. Tan did not have a work permit and police said that she will be deported soon.
■ Society
Park officials await word
Taroko National Park officials yesterday said that they hoped National Taiwan Normal University graduate student Kuo Cheng-yan (郭正彥) will let them know as soon as possible whether he is planning to leave the Chilai mountains. While the Ministry of Education has said it basically supports Kuo staying on for his research work as long as his food and equipment are sufficient, Kuo's advisor and university authorities have demanded that he leave the mountains. Park director Huang Wen-ching (黃文卿) said the university requested a military rescue helicopter pick Kuo up. Huang said if Kuo is willing to leave the mountains, officials hope he will explain to the public why he insisted on staying in the mountains after his companions were rescued last week.
■ Health
COA reassures consumers
The Council of Agriculture yesterday assured consumers that cooked poultry meat is safe to eat, and said it will ask countries which have stopped importing poultry from Taiwan to drop their bans. "We want to emphasize that the weaker strain of the bird flu can not be transmitted to humans. And since that virus is sensitive to heat, well-cooked poultry meat is safe for consumption," the council said in a statement. The council said the government will provide loans to poultry farmers and exporters to tide them over the difficult period, and will ask Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Brazil to lift the ban on poultry imports from Taiwan. In the past month, more than 60,000 chickens were slaughtered after some chickens died mysteriously. The council insists the chickens died from a combination of Newcastle disease, bronchitis, cold weather and H5N2 -- a weaker strain of H5N1. Ten-thousand ducks on one farm were also killed after test results showed that a batch of ducks sold at a Taipei market last December tested positive for H5N2.
■ Weather
Low temperatures expected
Temperatures will drop tomorrow with a strong cold front approaching from China, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday. Temperatures in northern Taiwan are expected to range between 10?C and 15?C. Heavy rain is also predicted for Monday through Thursday. The CWB said that high mountain areas like Hohuan Mountain (合歡山) and Jade Mountain (玉山) have a fair chance of snow. With outdoor activities surrounding the traditional Lantern Festival scheduled for Thursday, the CWB urged participants to carry umbrellas and wear rain gear.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
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