■ 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.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it