■ Crime
Macau man detained
Police have arrested a Macau man for bringing 1.3kg of heroin into Taiwan, an official said yesterday. Bureau of Criminal Investigation agents nabbed the suspect, surnamed Kang, when he flew into Kaohsiung on an EVA Airways flight from Macau on Monday, a bureau official told reporters. Kang, a 30-year-old factory worker, had taped the packets of heroin to the inside of his thighs. He said he was paid NT$200,000 (US$6,600) to deliver the heroin to a man in Taiwan. The maximum penalty for drug trafficking is the death sentence.
■ Diplomacy
Legislators go to Ottawa
A legislative delegation arrived in Ottawa on Monday for a visit to strengthen exchanges between the two countries. Cheng Kuo-chung (鄭國忠), chairman of Taiwan-Canada Parliamentary Friendship Group in the legislature, who led the delegation, said that their visit was conducted at the invitation of the Canada-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group and is aimed at boosting bilateral parliamentary exchanges. Cheng said friendships and exchanges between the people of Taiwan and Canada have been increasing substantially during the last few years, and during their stay in Canada the lawmakers will also thank Canadian congressman Jim Abbot, a member of the opposition Conservative Party, for putting forward the Taiwan Affairs Act for approval in the Canadian parliament.
■ Society
DPP politician apologizes
Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Chang Ching-fang (張清芳) yesterday apologized to Yang Yun-tai (楊雲黛), secretary to People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), for having made false allegations in November 2003 about the relationship between the two. Several months before last year's presidential election, in which Soong was the running mate of then Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰), Chang alleged that Yang was Soong's mistress. Chang based his allegation on a statement by former Taiwan Provincial Assembly member Wang Chao-chuan (王兆釧). Yang went to court to demand justice, seeking NT$10 million in compensation for damage to her reputation. The court ruled that Chang must pay NT$800,000 in damages and publish an apology to Yang in three major newspapers.
■ Immigration
Illegals find hospital work
An illegal Chinese immigrant has been caught serving as a caregiver at major hospitals in Taipei, police authorities said yesterday. The Chinese man told police that he smuggled himself into Taiwan a year ago. He first took odd jobs around Taiwan. In April, he began working as a caregiver at major Taipei hospitals, including Veterans General Hospital and Yangming Hospital, on a wage of NT$1,900 per day. He pays a 10 percent commission to his manpower broker. According to police, the 30-something man has been caring for several seriously ill patients for three months through the arrangement of a local manpower agency. Taipei police authorities informed a special task force under the National Police Administration (NPA) of the case. The "homeland security" task force was founded by the NPA earlier this year to track down illegal Chinese immigrants. The task force checked a list of temporary caregivers and said they discovered that the list included 10 illegal male Chinese immigrants, all around 30 years of age.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
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