■ Politics
Ma denies museum rumors
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman-elect and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday dismissed local reports that the Taipei City Government was planning to use the party's Taipei headquarters to house a "Taipei City Museum." According to the head of the Taipei City Government's metropolitan development bureau, Hsu Chih-chien (許志堅), a meeting was held on Tuesday to discuss possible locations for a new city museum. Although different venues were discussed, the KMT's headquarters was not mentioned as one of the options, he said. If the Taipei City Government decided to use the KMT headquarters for its city museum, it would need to negotiate with the party on whether to buy the property, which could be advantageous for the KMT, which is said to be facing financial problems.
■ Diplomacy
Foreign officials to visit
Officials in charge of economic development from eight of the nation's diplomatic allies in Central and South America will visit Taiwan to attend a month-long workshop on the country's experience in economic development and planning scheduled to start on Monday, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said yesterday. The Latin American officials will learn about Taiwan's economic development and planning by attending over 20 classes to be given by local economics officials and experts at the Grand Hotel in Taipei and via field trips to related locations and venues, said Chen Cheng-chung (陳正忠), secretary-general of the International Cooperation and Development Fund, a MOFA operation.
■ Labor
Most choose new pensions
More than 2 million workers have chosen to change to the revised pension system, while more than 1 million prefer the old system, initial tallies compiled by the Council for Labor Affairs show. Under the old system, a worker must work for the same employer for 15 consecutive years and reach the age of 55, or for 25 consecutive years, to be eligible for a retirement pension. If a worker were to quit before he met one of the two conditions, he or she would get nothing. Under the new system, a worker's employer must deposit an amount equal to at least 6 percent of the employee's salary into his pension account, which he or she can "carry around" when moving to a new company.
■ Politics
KMT wants new blood
Six young newly-elected Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) national delegates yesterday appealed to party chairman-elect and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to let delegates directly elect Central Standing Committee members during the upcoming National Congress. Currently, the 31 members are elected by the Central Committee members. During the party's National Congress, scheduled for Aug. 19 and 20, Ma is to take the oath of office and the more than 1,000 newly-elected party delegates will elect 210 Central Committee members, who will then elect 31 Central Standing Committee members. In addition to saving time and money as well as narrowing the gap between management and grass-roots supporters, the young delegates yesterday said that the direct election would inject younger blood to the committee.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
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