■ Crime
Wang's daughter summoned
PHOTO: HU SHUN-HSIANG, TAIPEI TIMES
Taipei prosecutors and special agents from the Bureau of Investigation yesterday summoned The Chinese Bank vice general manager Wang Lin-ke (王令可), the daughter of Rebar Asia Pacific Group chairman Wang You-theng (王又曾), for questioning because they suspect her of helping her father steal NT$47.9 million from the bank. Special agents also interrogated the bank's Taiyuan Rd branch manager, Chen Wen-dung (陳文棟), for his alleged involvement in the case. Prosecutors said that Wang Lin-ke and Chen abetted Wang You-theng by illegally selling Rebar's debts to companies that had difficulty obtaining credit financing. These companies' applications for credit were approved, with no credit checks or endorsements needed, if they agreed to use half of the money from financing to buy Rebar's debts.
■ Politics
New Lu book hits shelves
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday released a new book, The Global Taiwan, saying that the book was written to correct the erroneous notion that Taiwan is part of China, which she said had misled many people in Taiwan and the world. "I think it is a pity that people always get confused when asked about their national identity. Clarifying the confusion is important as it will contribute to the country's nation building," Lu said at her book launch press conference. Likening writing a book to giving a birth to a baby, Lu said that the book is like her 15th child. Lu started writing books at the age of 30. "The energy I spent on this book was much more than that I devoted to my previous works, as I always feel emotional when thinking of the nation's history," Lu said.
■ Society
Actress Beatrice Hsu dies
Beatrice Hsu (許瑋倫), a 28-year-old actress and pop idol, died at a Taichung hospital on Sunday, two days after sustaining a serious head injury in a car crash on the Sun Yat-sen Freeway. The accident occurred on Friday night, when Hsu's assistant, Lin Yi-wen (林怡妏), was at the wheel. For reasons that remain unclear, the southbound car hit a guardrail and was then hit from behind by a truck, Taichung County's Sanyi police department said. Lin suffered light injuries, but Hsu suffered serious head and chest wounds and fell into a coma. The pair were rushed to hospital in Taichung where Hsu died on Sunday evening, the hospital said.
■ Weather
EPA issues air quality alert
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) issued an alert yesterday about worsening air quality in the wake of pollutants accompanying recent cold fronts. The fronts have brought pollutants originating from southern China, EPA forecasters said. According to officials, air quality in northern Taiwan was at its worst in several months on Sunday. Southern Taiwan is also expected to be affected by worsening air quality over the next two days. Officials said this could create difficulties for people with allergies or respiratory problems, and urged anyone affected to avoid going outdoors or to wear a mask if they must go outside.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview. “Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that,” Hsiao told American podcaster Shawn Ryan of the Shawn Ryan Show. She was referring to a timeline cited by several US military and intelligence officials, who said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take military action against Taiwan
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