■ Military affairs
Civil defense drills held
A rehearsal for two civil defense drills scheduled to be staged in Taiwan's southernmost county of Pingtung on Thursday to test and sharpen homeland security protection measures was held yesterday, county officials said. The rehearsal for the joint excercise of the Tung Hsin No. 16 training drill for reservists and the Wan An No. 27 civil defense drill was held in Chaochou township, Pingtung County. In the drill scenario, invading enemies launch surprise landings on the coasts of Pingtung's Fangliao and Fangshan rural townships, while Taiwan's armed forces, including the reservists, try to deter the enemies from pushing north with the help of Pingtung civilians. The joint exercises will mark the first time in the nation's history that civilians and neighborhoods have been involved in drills for homeland protection, the officials said.
■ Society
Doctors remove beer bottle
A man with the habit of inserting odd objects into his rectum was admitted to the emergency room of National Taiwan University Hospital yesterday. Doctors spent two hours removing a bottle of Taiwan Beer he had inserted into his anus. What particularly complicated the procedure was that the bottle had been inserted wide-end first. The man was required to remain in hospital for thee days for further observation. Records of the Veterans General Hospital over the past 20 years show that the man's habit is by no means an unusual one. Other objects retrieved from anuses include flower vases, glass bottles, vibrators and table legs. The largest object ever removed was a bowling pin. One of the hospital's male patients was admitted on three separate occasions with a different object each time.
■ Society
Ma praises social work
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) pledged yesterday to continue to incorporate government and non-government resources to promote community building in the capital city. Ma said there has been a number of successful cases, such as the "Sunshine Kitchen" set up by a group of women in the Neihu district with the help of a non-government organization. The kitchen, which cooks meals and gives them away to low-income families and elderly people who live alone in the neighborhood, has helped solve the unemployment problem for middle-aged women and also provides care for senior citizens, Ma said. The mayor said there is still ample room for community building in the city, where apartment complexes are emerging as the new form of community.
■ Education
Wang appointed to new post
Wang Fu-lin (王福林), director of the education ministry's Department of Physical Education, will be sworn in as head of the ministry's student military education, the first time the position will be held by a civilian. Wang's position will be filled by Tseng Teh-jin (曾德錦), an educational supervisor at the ministry. Wang's predecessor, Sung Wen (宋文), was indicted on charges of corruption last Friday. The case first surfaced in July when a local Chinese-language newspaper reported that Sung allegedly took advantage of his son's wedding dinner to accept bribes. Prosecutors recommended a 13-year sentence if he is found guilty. Sung is out on bail and plans to apply to get his job back. Sung will automatically lose his position if he fails to file an application within three months. The ministry will call a meeting to review his application.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of Yilan County at 8:39pm tonight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter was 38.7km east-northeast of Yilan County Hall at a focal depth of 98.3km, the CWA’s Seismological Center said. The quake’s maximum intensity, which gauges the actual physical effect of a seismic event, was a level 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale, the center said. That intensity level was recorded in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳), Hsinchu County’s Guansi Township (關西), Nantou County’s Hehuanshan (合歡山) and Hualien County’s Yanliao (鹽寮). An intensity of 3 was
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
Taiwan Railways Corp (TRC) today announced that Shin Kong Mitsukoshi has been selected as the preferred bidder to operate the Taipei Railway Station shopping mall, replacing the current operator, Breeze Development Co Ltd. Among eight qualified firms that delivered presentations and were evaluated by a review committee, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi was ranked first, while Breeze was named the runner-up, the rail company said in a statement. Contract negotiations are to proceed in accordance with regulations, it said, adding that if negotiations with the top bidder fail, it could invite the second-ranked applicant to enter talks. Breeze in a statement today expressed doubts over
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