■ Media
TV station disputes ruling
TVBS, a Hong Kong-invested TV station in Taiwan, said yesterday that it refuses to accept a decision by the Government Information Office (GIO) that it has violated the law and will seek remedial measures in line with law. TVBS, which recently drew the ire of the government and the Democ-ratic Progressive Party (DPP) by exposing damning evidence of a ranking former official suspected of invol-vement in the Kaohsiung mass rapid transit scandal, was responding to the GIO's move a day earlier to slap the station with a NT$1 million (US$29,722) fine for violating the Satellite Broadcasting Law, which limits foreign capital in broadcast media.
■ Immigration
New agency for foreigners
In the face of a continued inflow of foreigners, Taiwan will soon establish an agency exclusively dedicated to immigration affairs, a spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The ministry official made the comment one day after the Legislative Yuan gave its final approval for establishing an immigration administration to take charge of all aspects of immigration affairs. Vice Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) said a day earlier that the immigration administration can begin operations soon to tackle "the many problems" arising from the continued entry of foreign brides from China and other Southeast Asian countries as well as blue-collar and skilled workers.
■ Health
Taiwan helps fight bird flu
Taiwan will donate US$500,000 at the up-coming 13th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to assist in the regional effort against bird flu, an official said yesterday. "Fighting bird flu is one of the main topics of the APEC summit, so we will announce there that Taiwan will donate US$500,000 to contribute to the regional fight against bird flu," Liao Tung-chou (廖東周), deputy chief of the Foreign Ministry's Department of International Organizations, told a seminar. The summit will be held in Busan, South Korea, on Nov. 18 and Nov. 19. Leaders from the 21 APEC member states will meet to discuss regional economic issues and how to fight bird flu.
■ Politics
Misbehavior out: Hsieh
Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday said that violence or any sort of misbehavior cannot and should not be rationalized. Hsieh said during the weekly Cabinet meeting that "when behavior is wrong, it is wrong anyway." He was commenting on writer and poet Tu Shi-san (杜十三) threatening to kill every member of the premier's family. However, the premier said that he would affirm Tu's confession when Tu said that he would apologize for what he did and take responsibility for it. Hsieh said that he understood that some people would support Tu's behavior and said that Tu does not have to apologize.
■ Justice
Two probe Lafayette case
Public prosecutor-general Wu Ying-chao (吳英昭) yesterday confirmed at the legislature that prosecutors Albert Tsai (蔡秋明) and Lo Jung-chien (羅榮乾), in charge of the Lafayette frigate scandal investigation, are in Switzerland investigating records of bank deposits made by fugitive Taiwanese arms broker Andrew Wang (汪傳浦). "The probe of those bank documents could mean a breakthrough in the scandal," Wu said. A Swiss Federal Commission on Oct. 29 approved the handover of bank files to foreign judicial authorities concerning the controversial sale of French warships to Taiwan.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
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