■ Transport
Link goes underground
Taipei City Government's Department of Rapid Transit Systems yesterday announced that the bureau will construct an underground MRT line that connects with CKS International Airport, rather than build an overhead link. Although the Ministry of Transportation and Communications planned to construct an overhead MRT line to the airport, bureau director Fan Liang-hsiu (范良鏽) said the central plan will destroy the city's urban landscape and bring chaos to Taipei's traffic. Fan said the bureau would ask the central government to increase the line's budget and will try its best to finish the underground as soon as possible because underground construction would add two years to the project.
■ Politics
Police want PFP lawmaker
Kaohsiung police said yesterday they wanted a lawmaker to be prosecuted for standing atop a truck that rammed a courthouse gate guarded by police during a post-election riot. Police want prosecutors to charge People First Party (PFP) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) because several officers were injured in the melee, said the city's police chief, Hsieh Hsu-nen (謝秀能). Chiu told reporters he was on top of the truck because he was trying to calm the protesters. But Hsieh didn't believe Chiu's account. "I told him the protest was illegal and asked him to halt immediately," Hsieh said. TV footage showed Chiu standing on a campaign truck that repeatedly rammed a Kaohsiung courthouse gate guarded by a group of police. Chiu was also part of a crowd that stormed the Central Election Commission headquarters in Taipei last Friday.
■ Politics
Ting and Tsai offer to resign
Following Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) spokesman Alex Tsai's (蔡正元) offer to resign on Monday, the director of the KMT's Organization and Development Affairs Committee, Ting Shou-chung (丁守中), also submitted his resignation yesterday. Both Tsai and Ting, whose resignations were not accepted, cited unsatisfactory performance in KMT Chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) failed presidential election bid as the reason for their wish to quit. Lien, paired with People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), lost to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) by a margin of less than 30,000 votes. Lien is contesting the election result in court. KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng (林豐正), noting that the election result remained uncertain, had asked Tsai and Ting to stay. "It is natural for party directors to resign from their post as a gesture of taking responsibility," Ting said. "But given that the outcome of this election is controversial, the secretary-general has asked us to remain at our posts."
■ Cross-strait ties
Kinmen learns about links
In an effort to improve the efficacy of the current "three small links," the Kinmen County government hosted a seminar yesterday attended by more than 130 officials from local and central authorities. The symposium, chaired by Kinmen County Deputy Commissioner Yang Chung-chuan (楊忠全), attracted officials from the Kinmen County government, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) as well as other government agencies stationed on the outlying island. Officials from the MAC's Department of Legal Affairs and Department of Economic Affairs were in charge of explaining the newest rules of the "small three links" to attendees.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
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