■ 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 Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
PEAK MONTHS: Data showed that on average 25 to 27 typhoons formed in the Pacific and South China seas annually, with about four forming per month in July and October One of three tropical depressions in the Pacific strengthened into a typhoon yesterday afternoon, while two others are expected to become typhoons by today, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Lee Ming-hsiang (李名翔) said yesterday. The outer circulation of Tropical Depression No. 20, now Typhoon Mitag, has brought light rain to Hualien, Taitung and areas in the south, Lee said, adding that as of 2pm yesterday, Mitag was moving west-northwest at 16kph, but is not expected to directly affect Taiwan. It was possible that Tropical Depression No. 21 would become a typhoon as soon as last night, he said. It was moving in a
RSS