Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Pasuya Yao (
"I am totally against any form of political involvement and interference [in the media] and will definitely do my best to maintain 100 percent press freedom for my fellow journalists," Yao said in response to a question by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Lawmaker Justin Chou (
Yao told Chou that the government has made a lot of progress in protecting the freedom of the press in Taiwan.
"I was a reporter as well. The reason why I left the media was that I could not agree with what those higher up asked me to do. Today, I am the GIO minister. I may not be able to protect the safety of my fellow journalists, but I will definitely be able to protect their rights," Yao said.
During their discussion, a 52-year-old man protested in front of the GIO's offices with a chef's knife and a bottle of gas in his hands.
The man, who was only identified by his surname, Miao, loudly requested to meet Yao in person. He set flame to the gas, but was apprehended by police officers.
The man was arrested and brought to Chungcheng First Precinct for questioning. The police said that a preliminary investigation showed that Miao is passionate about politics and was trying to urge President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to not participate in the March 26 rally to protest China's new "Anti-Secession" Law.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
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