■ Athletics
Taiwan nabs gold, bronze
Two university students won Taiwan its first medals -- a gold and a bronze -- yesterday in the 2005 World University Games, also known as the Universiade, in Izmir, Turkey. Huang Yi-hsue (黃怡學), 23, a graduate student at the National College of Physical Education and Sports, won the gold medal in the men's vault. It was the first medal win for Taiwan at this year's games, and the first ever Universiade gold medal for a Taiwanese. Lin Hsiang-wei (林祥威), 20, from National Taiwan Normal University, took the bronze in the men's pommel horse.
■ Diplomacy
AIT staff to visit Taichung
Representatives of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) will be in Taichung on Aug. 24 to provide consular services to US citizens in the area. Americans wishing to file applications for passports or to add pages to their passports, and all persons requiring the services of a notary public for US purposes, can go to the American Corner located in the National Taichung Library at 291-3 Jingwu Rd, Taichung, from 9am to 11am. Further information can be obtained by contacting AIT's Taipei office at (02) 2162-2000, ext. 2306. More information about the fees for different services can be found on AIT's Web site (www.ait.org.tw/en/uscitizens/).
■ Politics
New Party trio joins KMT
Three New Party legislators -- Fei Hung-tai (費鴻泰), Lai Shyh-bao (賴士葆) and Joanna Lei (雷倩) -- joined the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday in a step toward a merger of the two parties ahead of the 2008 presidential elections. "Hopefully the three outstanding legislators can give the KMT a new lease on life in reforms," New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明) said. The New Party plans to integrate with the KMT in order to strengthen the pan-blue camp's chances in the 2008 elections. Yok, however, would not say when the merger would take place.
■ Diplomacy
Australia to maintain ban
The Australian government has rejected President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) recent request to lift its 33-year ban on visits by Taiwanese leaders, according to a report in the Australian newspaper yesterday. "We will just stick with the policy Australia has had since 1972," the paper quoted Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as saying. As for Chen's call for Australia's support in Taiwan's bid to gain admittance to the APEC leaders' summit to be held in South Korea in November, Downer said only that it was a "matter for the Koreans," as the summit's hosts. Green Party Senator Bob Brown said that keeping leaders of "this nearby democracy" from visiting Australia "would be an affront to Australia's own democratic values."
■ Food
Hsieh urges scallion boycott
Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday urged the public to go on strike against the high price of green onions. "If everyone stops eating green onions for three days, I believe that the price will drop to NT$10 per kilogram," he said. Hsieh said that consumers must stay united to fight against unreasonably high prices. "We will not die if we do not eat green onions, will we?" he said. Taiwan's production of green onions has been seriously impacted since three typhoons recently hit the country. The price of green onions peaked at NT$400 per kilogram two weeks ago, but the average market price remains around NT$280 per kilogram.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
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