■ Politics
TSU names Tainan nominee
Former Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Chien Lin Hui-chien (錢林慧君), yesterday entered the campaign for Tainan mayor to challenge the DPP's candidate Hsu Tien-tsai (許添財), the incumbent mayor who is seeking re-election. Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) had previously singled out Chien Lin to run for Tainan mayor but she had been cool to Lee's suggestion and instead accepted President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) offer to become a national policy adviser to the president after she lost her bid to be re-elected as a legislator. Chien Lien said that Lee was happy about her decision. TSU Chairman Shu Chin-chiang (蘇進強) said that Chien Lin's decision demonstrated the TSU's autonomy and offered an alternative for Tainan citizens other than the DPP.
■ Society
Man gouges out eyes
A jobless, homesick man gouged out his own eyes, surrounded by families celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, a newspaper said yesterday. The man, surnamed Chiu, lives in Taoyuan County with his mother, wife and two toddler-age children but has been out of work for a long time, the Apple Daily reported. For several months, Chiu, 40, had worked odd jobs in Chungli (中壢) and he was homesick late Sunday during the Mid-Autumn Festival. At 11pm, he was sitting in a park in Chungli as numerous families were barbecuing in the park. "The full moon, smell of barbecue and the revellers' laughter made him even more homesick and angry at his fate. In a fit of anger, he gouged out his eyes with the forefinger and middle finger of his right hand," the daily said.
■ Diplomacy
China blasts Swiss visit
China has lodged a protest with Switzerland's government over a senior politician's meeting with Taiwanese leaders while on a private trip to Taipei last month, the Swiss foreign ministry said on Sunday. China slammed as "incomprehensible" the visit by Bruno Frick, the speaker of the Council of States, the upper house of the Swiss parliament, in a statement issued by its embassy in the Swiss capital Bern. During his stay, Frick met with Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) as well as other leaders. Frick said he supported Taiwan's campaign to gain observer status in the World Health Organization. A spokeswoman for the Swiss foreign ministry conceded Frick's sojourn in Taiwan was "inconvenient" although she noted the nation's separation of powers between the government and the legislature.
■ Cross-strait ties
Soong took message to Hu
Presidential Office spokesman Chen Wen-tsung (陳文宗) yesterday said President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) did ask People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) to convey a message to Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), but it was not about what constitutes "one China," as James R. Keith, a senior adviser at the US State Department, had said last week. According to Keith, Soong met Hu and other Chinese leaders in Beijing on May 12 and passed on a message that Chen was willing to engage in dialogue with Beijing using a flexible formulation about what constitutes "one China." Up to yesterday, the Presidential Office had denied asking Soong to be Chen's messenger. While declining to reveal what the message was, the Presidential Office said it was not about a "flexible formulation on what constitutes `one China.'"
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