■ Cross-Strait Ties
Beijing criticizes Chen
China accused President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday of hoodwinking his people by offering to swap envoys with Beijing and shake hands with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) if he was re-elected. "What he said, I think, aims only to advance his decep-tion of public opinion and fool the people of Taiwan," Taiwan affairs spokesman
Li Weiyi (李維一) told a
news conference in Beijing. Li said that if Chen were serious about building ties, he would recognize that Taiwan was part of China.
"If Chen Shui-bian were
really sincere ... he would create conditions for the resumption of talks and negotiations across the Taiwan Strait," Li said. "Otherwise, he will once again be cheating the
people of Taiwan and inter-national opinion."
■ Government
Cabinet OKs new command
The Cabinet approved a set of draft bills and revisions yesterday to establish a
new airborne rescue com-mand. The Cabinet hopes that the legislature will approve the package by
the end of next year. At present there are five airborne rescue teams belonging to the National Fire Administration, the National Police Administra-tion, the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the Coast Guard Administration and the army. The new command will be under the Ministry
of the Interior. The com-mand center will be located at Taipei's Sungshan Airport, with secondary bases at Taichung County's Shuinan Airport, Pingtung Airport, Taitung Airport and Hualien Airport. Operations not related to air rescue efforts, such as transporting patients and air-traffic patrol, will be contracted out to the private sector. A preparatory office for the new command will be inaugurated on March 10.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
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