■ Business
Ohio delegation arriving
Ohio Governor Bob Taft will lead a large delegation to Taiwan today for a three-day visit, according to a press release issued yesterday by the American Institute in Taiwan. The group will be made up of about 50 representatives from more than 30 companies and organizations. The delegation will identify local companies interested in investing in Ohio, promote Ohio exports and build educational, social and cultural exchanges between Ohio and Taiwan. Taiwan is one of Ohio's top-20 export markets and is a growing source of advanced technology collaborations. Last year Ohio's exports to Taiwan were worth approximately US$201.48 million.
■ Politics
Activist quits KMT post
Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛), president of the Modern Women's Foundation yesterday resigned her position as head of the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) women's affairs department to concentrate on her legislative election campaign. Pan announced her resignation at KMT party headquarters in Taipei yesterday, promising to promote women's issues if she were elected. Pan said she would work for greater female representation in government, the establishment of a gender equality committee in the Executive Yuan, push for a birth health bill and initiate reforms to the Gender Equality Education Law (性別平等教育法). Pan said she would also push for the creation of a women's entrepreneurship fund.
■ Society
PTS holds racism seminar
A two-day seminar next month on ethnic conflict will provide a forum to talk about everyday experiences with racism, social welfare groups said yesterday. Sponsored by the Peacetime Foundation and the Reading Times Foundation, the forum will take a comprehensive look at ethnic conflict. The forum is co-sponsored by the Public Television Service. The seminar is entitled "The Words of the People" and will be held on Oct. 23 and Oct. 24. People over the age of 16 are encouraged to register, and selected participants will have the chance to join small group discussions with experts. Participants will be representative of all levels and sectors of society, foundation representatives said. The seminar will be recorded by PTS and screened in November. To apply, see the seminar's Web page at www.pts.org.tw/php/vote/9309_pub/index.php. The fee is NT$5,000.
■ Judiciary
Phone records recovered
Prosecutors yesterday said they had acquired the mobile phone records of independent Legislator Su Ying-kuei (蘇盈貴) as part of an investigation into whether two grand justices attempted to persuade him to veto the March 19 Shooting Truth Investigation Special Committee Statute (三一九槍擊事件真相調查特別委員會條例). The probe was launched after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Tsung-yi (陳宗義) filed a slander suit on Sept. 22. Yesterday Chen visited Prosecutor-General Morley Shih (施茂林), asking that prosecutors summon him as well as Su as soon as possible, and claiming that "he also knew something about the case." Shih told Chen Tsung-yi that prosecutors were reviewing Su's phone records and would begin summoning witnesses at the appropriate time. After alleging the grand justices had tried to persuade him to veto the statute, Su refused to name them. Chen said Su had insulted the public and defamed the justices.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
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