■ Politics
PFP to contend for post
The People First Party (PFP) announced for the first time yesterday that it would contend for a deputy legislative speaker post. The announcement cast a shadow on the previous belief that both the legislative and deputy legislative speakers will remain Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members. PFP caucus whip Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) said that caucus members would act uniformly in the speakership race, and that the caucus would cooperate with parties and figures supporting the ROC and opposing independence. The decision was made after PFP chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) returned to Taiwan yesterday and met party lawmakers, according to some reports. So far, three PFP lawmakers, Shen Chih-hwei (沈智慧), Chou Hsi-wei(周錫瑋) and Lee Ching-hua (李慶華), are interested in the deputy speakership, reports said.
■ Aid Efforts
Doctors to go to Sri Lanka
A medical group in Taiwan will leave for Sri Lanka today, one of the countries hardest hit by the catastrophic tsunamis on Sunday, to provide medical service. Liu Chi-chun (劉啟群), president of Taiwan Root Medical Peace Corps, said the group will assess the damage and if needed, will arrange more groups to go there. Taiwan Root has been to Sri Lanka three times for medical assistance, and it last returned from the country in late November. This time it will travel to Batticaloa and Pottubil in southern Sri Lanka. The tsunamis has taken a heavy toll on the nation, with a jail in Galle City being flattened by the tidal waves and half of the inmates drowned. Liu said that the group will carry with them related medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, and that medical services will focus on surgical assistance and the prevention of infectious diseases.
■ Travel
Record set at airport
The number of arrivals, departures and transit visits for the year at Chiang Kai-shek (CKS) International Airport reached a record high of 20 million yesterday, according to airport officials. Lee Tung-yang (李東洋), a Taiwanese passenger returning from a business trip, became the 20 millionth passenger for the year and was mobbed by reporters in the arrivals hall. He was awarded free flight tickets worth NT$100,000 (US$3,107.52) and tax-free gifts at an awards presentation ceremony held by the airport authorities, as were the two passengers immediately before and after him. After the inauguration of the airport in 1979, the number of arrivals and departures for the year was only 4.04 million.
■ Crime
Man `slept' with corpse
A man killed his friend two years ago and has been sleeping beside the corpse since then, television channel CTI reported yesterday. The man, identified only as Chiu, killed his friend with an iron bar during a quarrel when they were drinking at Chiu's home, CTI said. Chiu then wrapped the corpse up in a quilt, tied up the bundle with ropes and left it on his bed. "When the body decomposed and gave out a bad smell, Chiu placed camphor balls and sprayed disinfectant in his bedroom to suppress the bad odor," a policeman from Yungkang Police Station in Tainan County told CTI. "Chiu said he kept the body in his house because he believed this was a good way to reduce his bad karma, but we think he has mental problems," the policeman added. Police arrested Chiu after a neighbor saw the corpse on the bed and alerted police.
■ Politics
Soong `to meet US officials'
People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) left for the US late last night after he returned to Taiwan the day before, according to PFP members. The party officials, who declined to be named, said Soong may meet "influent-ial US officials to discuss matters regarding Taiwan-US relations. Soong and his wife Chen Wan-shui (陳萬水) returned to Taiwan early Monday morning to attend the funeral of former first lady Faina Chiang Fang-liang (蔣方良), the Russian wife of late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國). The PFP chairman was formerly the late president's English secretary. According to PFP members, Soong is headed to the US to meet some officials and think-tanks. They refused, however, to elaborate to the press whom Soong is to meet or what they are to talk about.
■ Weather
Snowfall leads to roadblock
Police in Nantou sealed off a major road leading to Hohuan Mountain yesterday evening, with the arrival of a severe cold front that brought snow to the mountain. Police patrolling the area decided to ban all vehicles from entrance because the road became slippery after the snowfall, the Central News Agency reported. Temperat-ures in the mountain area dropped to below freezing at around 5pm yesterday. Cars will be allowed on road again starting from 6am today, but the police said they might have to prolong the road block if the snow continues. At Jade Mountain, Taiwan's highest mountain, the temperature fell below the freezing point yesterday evening. Snow is also expected on the mountain in the coming few days, weather officials said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard