■ Crime
PFP legislators indicted
Four People First Party legislators were indicted by Taipei prosecutors yesterday for allegedly leading the unruly crowd that gathered outside the Central Election Commission on March 26. According to the indictment, the four legislators -- Chiu Yi (邱毅), Feng Ting-kuo (馮定國), Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) and Lin Hui-kuan (林惠官) -- led a group of protesters that smashed the commission building's glass doors and attempted to stop commission employees from posting the official results of the March 20 presidential election on its bulletin board. The police attempted to disperse the crowd because the protest was not legal. According to witnesses' and police officers' testimony, the four legislators ignored the police's orders. Chiu is alleged to have shouted through a loudspeaker: "Beat [President] Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁)! Beat the commission!" The four legislators told prosecutors that they were not aware of the police's efforts to disperse the protesters -- an argument the prosecutors rejected because the protests were illegal in the first place. Chiu, Feng, Lee and Lin were indicted on charges of violating the Assembly and Parade Law (集會遊行法). Prosecutors did not recommend a sentence for the legislators.
■ Diplomacy
Close S Korea ties praised
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday he looks forward to seeing relations between Taiwan and South Korea grow. Chen made the remarks while meeting with a delegation of academics and business executives from South Korea, headed by South Korean National Assemblyman Lew Jyun-sung. Noting that Taiwan is now South Korea's fifth-largest trading partner, Chen said there is still ample room for growth in bilateral trade and economic cooperation. South Korea is Taiwan's fourth-largest source of imports and sixth-largest export market. Chen said he hopes that bilateral trade and investment will continue expanding in the years ahead. Despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties, Chen said Taiwan and South Korea have enjoyed longstanding friendship.
■ Weather
Typhoon strengthens
Typhoon Dianmu -- the sixth typhoon reported in the Pacific this year -- had gained strength and been upgraded to a strong typhoon, although it was not expected to directly affect the country, the Central Weather Bureau reported yesterday. Dianmu was centered some 1,800km southeast of Taiwan at 8am yesterday, moving in a north-northwesterly direction at a speed of 17km per hour, meteorologists said. With a radius of 180km and packing maximum sustained winds of up to 130km per hour, Dianmu was not expected to directly affect this country because it was expected to shift to a northwesterly course and eventually sweep toward Japan, the bureau reported.
■ Society
Wheelchair pageant planned
The Eden Social Welfare Foundation opened registration for their first annual Wheelchair Beauty Competition yesterday. Registration will close on June 30. Women around the nation between 18 and 40 are invited to enter the contest -- but only if they suffer from a handicap. "The contest is meant to encourage a breaking of beauty stereotypes," said organizer Carol Lu (呂惠萱). "Confidence, kindness and personality should also be criteria for a `beautiful woman.'"
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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