■ Crime
Chiu Yi sentenced
The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday sentenced an opposition lawmaker to 18 months in prison for his involvement in riots after the 2004 presidential elections. The court found that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) had climbed on a truck which rammed a courthouse gate in the city during widespread protests against the narrow election victory of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Chiu said he was trying to restrain overly zealous protesters, who claimed that Chen had staged a pre-election shooting to secure his win. Subsequent court hearings rejected the accusations against Chen. Chiu was not in court for yesterday's verdict, and it was not immediately known whether he would file an appeal.
■ Society
Flower festival begins
The Yangmingshan Flower Festival began yesterday, with vast groves of blossoming cherry and apricot trees, azaleas and camellias likely to draw a large number of people this weekend. In addition to enjoying the colorful festival during the day, this year the public will be able to appreciate the beauty of the flowers at night as well, as several areas of Yangmingshan National Park will be lit up. To reduce the problem of traffic jams, visitors are strongly advised to use public transport to reach the park. For more information on traffic controls and bus routes for the festival, visit the Taipei City Government's Web site at english.taipei.gov.tw/dot/index.jsp.
■ Entertainment
Did Jay dodge service?
Pop sensation Jay Chou (周杰倫) is being investigated on suspicion of faking a spinal ailment to avoid serving compulsory military service, a prosecutor said yesterday. In response to a court subpoena, Chou's attorney submitted a report last month to explain the pop heartthrob's health condition, prosecutor Wu Tsung-liang (吳宗樑) said. "He made some clarifications in the report, and we will determine whether they are reliable or not," Lin said. Chou's agent at Alfa Music was not immediately available for comment.
■ Politics
No KMT cash for 228 victims
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday acknowledged the party's political responsibility for the 228 Incident, but disagreed that it should compensate victims. "Although the KMT was the then-ruling party, it was not directly involved in the event ... The decision to send troops to suppress the riot was made by the government," Ma said yesterday after attending an exhibition at the Taipei 228 Memorial Museum in his capacity as Taipei mayor. The exhibition features documents and photographs of riots taking place in southern Taiwan in 1947.
■ Transportation
ETC decision overturned
Taiwan's High Court yesterday ruled that the Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau had made the wrong decision when it evaluated Far East Electronic Toll Collection Co as "the most appropriate applicant" for the freeway electronic toll-collection (ETC) system, and revoked the decision. According to a news release from the court, the judgement said that the bureau's evaluation "violated the principles of quality and was not in the public interest" and therefore should be revoked. If the bureau loses the case on appeal, this would throw into doubt who should be in charge of the ETC system.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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