■ 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.'"
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai