■ Crime
Justice official jailed
A former agent of the Ministry of Justice's Bureau of Investigation was found guilty and sentenced to five years and four months in jail yesterday for embezzlement. Yesterday's verdict was initially made by the Taipei District Court last March and upheld by the Taiwan High Court. Ou Tsung-jung (歐宗融), a former agent of the bureau's Taipei Office, was found guilty for stealing his work colleagues personal belongings as well as expensive watches and jewels that had been confiscated and kept by the bureau. Ou was immediately fired by the bureau after it was discovered he was stealing. Ou did not attend yesterday's verdict but was authorized to appeal to the Supreme Court.
■ Science
ROCSAT-2 launch uncertain
ROCSAT-2 will be launched after March 25 but the exact date remains uncertain, the National Science Council said yesterday. Early this month, US Orbital Sciences Corp, the operator of the satellites' launch vehicle, requested more time to fix problems with ground apparatus. Liftoff, originally scheduled for the end of this month, was delayed to late next month. To probe the cause of the delay, council officials and experts from the National Space Program Office last week visited the launch site, Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Council officials who visited the base said yesterday that most of the problems found earlier had been fixed and the satellite is in good condition. They said the launch date would be decided within days and they said such adjustments to the schedule were common.
■ Referendum
Extra pay for helpers
Teachers helping with the referendum vote will be granted a two-day vacation and those substituting for them will be getting two days' pay, the Cabinet announced yesterday. According to Cabinet Spokesman Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), the plan is aimed at making teachers helping in the referendum feel more at ease doing their job. The Cabinet had originally planned to grant only a one-day vacation to teachers helping with the referendum and giving one day's pay to those substituting for them.
■ Politics
Officials to go abroad
Members of the legislature's Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee are set to visit Japan and South Korea in the coming week, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Parris Chang (張旭成) said yesterday. Chang said he and his colleagues in the committee, including the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) John Chang (章孝嚴) and Sun Kuo-hua (孫國華) as well as People First Party Legislator Sun Ta-chien (孫大千), will head to Japan on Sunday and travel to South Korea on March 2 before returning home on March 4. Chang said the group will learn more about the situation in the Korean Peninsula and exchange views with their south Korean counterparts. "It is necessary to have an understanding of the current situation in Japan, " Chang said, adding that he will also pay close attention to Tokyo's latest views on Taiwan's referendum to be held March 20. Japan earlier expressed its concerns about the two referendum questions regarding the strengthening of Taiwan's anti-missile defenses and the opening of cross-strait talks on a peace and stability mechanism.
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