■ Politics
Legislature opening date set
The next legislative session will start on Sept. 13, Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said yesterday. He made the announcement after presiding over a cross-party consultative meeting of caucus whips. "Party whips from across the political spectrum have unanimously agreed that the next legislative session will formally open Sept. 13 after legislators report for duty Sept. 1 in accordance with constitutional provisions," Wang said. Once the session begins, all Cabinet members must field questions at the legislative plenary session. The party caucuses also agreed that lawmakers will pick one day every two weeks to screen legislative bills related to the people's livelihood, Wang said.
■ Diplomacy
Lawmakers to visit Japan
A delegation from the legislature's National Defense Committee is scheduled to leave for Japan on Monday for a four-day visit. However, People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) said yesterday that he decided not to go when he learned of the group's schedule, which was arranged by the Ministry of National Defense. The schedule has become controversial because the delegation is due to meet with several officials, including former justice minister Nagano Shigeto. In May 1994, Shigeto said Japan did not invade Asia, the Rape of Nanjing was a fabrication and that comfort women were simply prostitutes. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Shuai Hua-min (帥化民) said he's still going because he is curious to know "exactly what the Democratic Progressive Party [DPP] administration is doing with the Japanese government." DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) said that he wasn't going to pass up the rare opportunity to exchange views with Japanese military personnel simply because of one controversial figure.
■ Cross-strait ties
China repatriates suspects
China has deported two criminal suspects to Taiwan, as Guandong Province police vowed to prevent the province from becoming a haven for overseas criminals, state media reported yesterday. The two men were sent back to Taiwan on Tuesday, the China Daily reported. One of them, surnamed Kuo, wanted on suspicion of murder in Taiwan, was detained after stealing a motorcycle in Dongguan in February. The other, surnamed Chiu, suspected of raping a young girl in Taiwan, was detained July 21, the report said. "Guangdong will never become a haven for criminals from home or abroad," a provincial police official was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
■ Environment
Sci-tech strategy promoted
Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday that experts' recommendations at a science and technology strategy meeting will be adopted to improve living standards. Speaking at the closing ceremony of this year's Strategic Review Board meeting, Hsieh said that if all government offices can change to white-light LED products within 10 years, Taiwan will be in a better position to tell the world that it has been implementing the Kyoto Protocol. He said the government will work harder to train scientific manpower, coordinate research, promote the application of science and technology in daily life and identify strategies to help commercialize research results. He said sci-tech spending will rise next year even as the total budget goes down.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard