■ Society
Hon Hai boss' wife dies
Lin Shu-ru, (林淑如), the wife of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) died at National Taiwan University Hospital on Saturday night of liver and lung failure after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 55. Lin had been battling breast cancer for three years. She made her last public appearance last July hand-in-hand with her husband at the wedding of their son Gou Shou-cheng (郭守正). Forbes magazine claims Terry Gou is the country's wealthiest man. He was ranked 170 on the magazine's list of the world's billionaires.
■ Politics
DPP seeking young experts
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said that the party will consider young law experts and academics as priority nominees for the National Assembly elections. Su said Yeh Chun-jung (葉俊榮), chairman of the Cabinet's Research, Development and Evaluation Commission and Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission Chairman Hsu Chih-hsiung (許志雄) will both be nominees. Both have specialized in law and constitutional study. Su also said that if the DPP's local party branch nominates him as a candidate, he would ask the party to put his name last on the list of nominees.
■ Cross-strait ties
Kinmen plans giant Guanyin
Kinmen wants to build a giant statue of Guanyin (Avalokitesvara in Sanskrit) to serve as an inspiration for peace across the Taiwan Strait. Residents yesterday elected Kinmen County Commissioner Lee Chu-feng (李炷烽) to chair a committee supervising the building and management of a 36m-high white stone statue of the bodhisattva. Residents envisage building the island into a mecca for Buddhists, which will also serve as a "torch of peace" for people across the Taiwan Strait, Lee said after attending the first meeting of the committee. Buddhists in Kinmen decided last June that the island should build the Guanyin using white stone from Quanzhou, Fujian Province, to make the statue a Kinmen landmark. In a very short period of time, nearly NT$18 million (US$580,000) million) was raised for the project. Participants at yesterday's meeting, however, failed to reach a consensus on where the statue should be established. At least four township chiefs lobbied for their towns to be chosen.
■ Cross-strait ties
Women stage protest
A group of women organized by the Non-war Action Alliance of Taiwan protested in front of the Legislative Yuan yesterday against Beijing's proposed "anti-secession" law. The demonstrators put up posters and chanted "no war" and "peace." Chou Shen-hsin (周聖心), convener of the alliance, said that almost all wars were initiated by men, and women -- who account for half of the global population -- were always the victims.
■ Tourism
Taipei expo promoted
A Taipei City mission, headed by Deputy Mayor Yeh Chin-chuan (葉金川), left for Toronto yesterday to promote the Taipei International Healthy City Expo 2005. City officials said that the delegation will head to to Indianapolis, Indiana and then Copenhagen, Denmark and Helsinki, Finland before returning home on Friday. The expo, which brought together the chiefs of 16 international cities in Taipei last year, is expected to attract 40 to 50 city chiefs from around the world this year, they said.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
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