■ Crime
Sex party bust nets drugs
Taipei police busted 27 men at a sex party on Saturday, finding a variety of drugs. Late Saturday night, the Taipei Police Headquarters' Chungshan Precinct broke into an apartment on Chienkuo North Road and forcibly halted the sex and drug party. The naked arrestees asked the police to show a search warrant and accused the officers of trampling their human rights, as they noted the media were waiting outside the apartment. The police officers said they found drugs including ecstasy and the latest 5Meo-peace from Japan. Twenty-seven men were sent to the police station for interrogation and examination. Two men were found to be HIV-positive. They said condoms were used during sexual intercourse. Police officials said that "others had not seemed to concern themselves with the news of HIV-positive party partners."
■ Politics
Chirac's words `regretful'
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs regrets that French President Jacques Chirac felt it necessary to criticize Taiwan for what he called moves to upset the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, ministry spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶隆) said yesterday. Referring to the warning made by Chirac to Taiwan's leadership in a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), in Beijing the day before, Lu said that it is Taiwan's desire and the direction of its policies to settle peacefully cross-Taiwan Strait issues. It is regrettable that Chirac made the comment regarding Taiwan in an "unacceptable manner," particularly when President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) expressed goodwill toward Beijing in his National Day address, Lu noted.
■ Diplomacy
Embassies host parties
Embassies and representative offices abroad held a variety of activities on Saturday to celebrate Double Ten National Day, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials. The embassy in the Dominican Republic organized a charity activity at a stadium because the Caribbean country is still suffering from damage caused by a recent hurricane. The embassy staff made pizzas and hot dogs for 625 orphans gathered at the stadium, where Dominican Republic First Lady Margarita Cedeno de Fernandez was in attendance. Donations of US$62,267 were collected from Taiwanese expatriates and the government. Taiwanese expatriates living around the world, including southern California, New Jersey, Texas, Spain and Thailand also held a series of activities to celebrate the nation's birthday.
■ Diplomacy
Chen, Lu meet VIP guests
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) received foreign dignitaries yesterday at the Presidential Office for the Double Ten National Day celebrations. Chen and Lu expressed their gratitude to those who had arrived from overseas, including Swaziland Prime Minister Absalom Dlamini, Chad Minister of Foreign Affairs Nagoum Yamassoum, Malawi National Assembly Speaker Rodwell Munyenyembe and Palau Grand Judge Arthur Ngiraklsong. Also present were American Institute in Taiwan Director Douglas Paal, Japanese Interchange Association in Taipei Director Masaji Takahashi, and Burkina Faso Ambassador Jacques Sawadogo. Chen and Lu also received legislative delegations from Nicaragua, Saudi Arabia, the US, Japan, South Korea, Iceland, Latvia, Poland and Russia, as well as 34 journalists from around the world.
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was sentenced to six months in prison, commutable to a fine, by the New Taipei District Court today for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法) in a case linked to an alleged draft-dodging scheme. Wang allegedly paid NT$3.6 million (US$114,380) to an illegal group to help him evade mandatory military service through falsified medical documents, prosecutors said. He transferred the funds to Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), the alleged mastermind of a draft-evasion ring, although he lost contact with him as he was already in detention on fraud charges, they said. Chen is accused of helping a
SECURITY: Starlink owner Elon Musk has taken pro-Beijing positions, and allowing pro-China companies to control Taiwan’s critical infrastructure is risky, a legislator said Starlink was reluctant to offer services in Taiwan because of the nation’s extremely high penetration rates in 4G and 5G services, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said yesterday. The ministry made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, which reviewed amendments to Article 36 of the Telecommunications Management Act (電信管理法). Article 36 bans foreigners from holding more than 49 percent of shares in public telecommunications networks, while shares foreigners directly and indirectly hold are also capped at 60 percent of the total, unless specified otherwise by law. The amendments, sponsored by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ko
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
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