■ Crime
Man held over missile deal
A businessman was taken into custody by Taoyuan district prosecutors yesterday for allegedly supplying key Scud missile components to Libya. According to the prosecutors, Hsieh Chin-yi (謝進億) allegedly provided Libya with turbo propeller components for Scud missiles in 1999, an act that is in violation of trade and anti-smuggling laws. Some reports suggested that authorities began investigating Hsieh after being informed by foreign intelligence agencies that some of Libya's Scud missile components were allegedly supplied by a Taiwanese businessman. Prosecutor Hu Shu-teh (胡樹德) carried out a raid on Hsieh's company in Taipei on Thursday, seizing some customs declaration documents. No missile components were found. Hsieh has denied selling any components to Libya. A request by prosecutors to keep Hsieh in custody was approved by the Taoyuan District Court yesterday.
■ Health
Hospital fees may go up
The Bureau of National Health Insurance yesterday proposed making patients pay more for hospital visits, even though it has not set a firm timetable for the hike. Currently, people pay a registration fee plus NT$50 for a clinic visit, NT$140 for a community hospital visit and NT$210 for medical center. The bureau wants raise the fees to NT$80 for a community hospital, NT$240 for a regional hospital and NT$310 for a medical center. "The proposal is just a draft. Whether the fees will be raised or how much they will be raised are still undecided issues. We will continue to communicate with different groups and seek a consensus from citizens," said Liu Chien-hsiang (劉見祥), the bureau's chief.
■ Human Rights
Court refuses compensation
The Japanese Supreme Court yesterday rejected a claim by seven Taiwanese women who said they were forced to work as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War II. The latest failed legal bid by former sex slaves had begun with nine plaintiffs, but two of them died as the case was before the courts. Presiding Judge Isao Imai upheld a lower ruling refusing their demands for ?10 million (US$95,000) each in damages, and an official apology from the Japanese government. Last year at the Tokyo High Court, Judge Yoshinori Ishikawa rejected the group's suit, saying wartime issues had been settled by international and bilateral treaties since the end of the war. The Tokyo District Court handed down an identical ruling in 2002.
■ Education
Students heading overseas
A total of 30,728 students went abroad for advanced studies last year, marking a 25 percent increase from the year earlier, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Education yesterday. The US remained the most popular destination for people pursuing advanced studies, attracting 14,054 students. The UK was second with 9,207 students seeking advanced studies, and Australia was third, with 2,246 students. Other major destinations were Canada, Japan, France, New Zealand and Germany. In terms of growth, the UK topped the list by registering a 38 percent year-on-year increase. The US was second with a 36 percent growth rate, followed by Canada with 19 percent and Japan with a 16 percent. The number of students going to Australia, Germany, France and New Zealand fell by 20 percent, 10 percent, 7.5 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively, from 2003's level.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods