As the nation reeled from its second professional baseball game-fixing scandal in eight years, the government declared yesterday that the mastermind behind the fiasco would be apprehended to avoid doing damage to Taiwan's social order.
Cabinet spokesman Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said investigators were widening their dragnet, hoping to snare more suspects.
"There must be a big group behind all this, and the mastermind must be singled out and caught," he said.
Cho said the latest scandal has damaged people's confidence in Taiwan as it looks forward to hosting the 2009 World Games, not to mention the confidence of baseball fans.
The spokesman urged the public to think long and hard about the feasibility of introducing baseball management mechanisms from foreign countries, including whether a sports lottery could help eliminate rampant underground gambling.
There are two theories about the impact of the government starting a sports lottery, Cho said.
"One goes that it would discourage underground gambling; the other says just the opposite. The government has not decided which way to go," he said.
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Lo Chih-ming (羅志明) from Kaohsiung City, a staunch supporter of having the government run a sports lottery, said he will introduce a bill in the legislature for the government to sponsor a sports lottery that would be run in a fair and just manner.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
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