■ Consumer safety
Hair dyes dangerous
Sixty-seven percent of hair dye products sold on the Taiwanese market contain p-phenylenediamine (PPD), an irritating chemical that can lead to allergies and even cancer, the results of a survey released yesterday by the Consumers' Foundation showed. The survey was conducted on nine hair dye products purchased by the foundation from cosmetics and beauty product stores in the Taipei area on Feb. 5, foundation officials said. The survey found that six of the products contained PPD and four of these did not issue any warnings for consumers, the officials said. Hsu Wan-sheng (許萬盛), a member of the foundation's medical disputes committee, said that PPD can trigger allergic reactions such as swelling and rashes.
■ Diplomacy
Nauru to open embassy
Nauru will establish an embassy in Taiwan in March and the country's new ambassador, Ludwig Keke, has already arrived, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced yesterday. Donald Lee (李傳通), director-general of the ministry's Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, yesterday said Nauru had enjoyed smooth interactions with Taiwan since the two countries resumed diplomatic relations in 2005 . Lee said he believed "the diplomatic ties between two nations will develop well" after the embassy is opened. Nauru switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing in July 2002 but restored ties with Taipei in May 2005. Nauruan President Ludwig Scotty will sign a memorandum of understanding for cooperation on labor affairs with Council of Labor Affairs Chairman Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) tomorrow.
■ Crime
Reporter charged with theft
Criminal Investigation Bureau authorities arrested a Taiwan Television Enterprise reporter yesterday for alleged theft in an extortion case involving a Japanese doctor who reportedly sold fugitive businessman Wang You-theng (王又曾) medicine to treat erectile dysfunction. The reporter, surnamed Chen, allegedly raided Isamu Karashima's Taipei office last week with three men posing as police officers and threatened to expose Isamu for practicing medicine without a license. Police detained and questioned Chen for stealing Isamu's computer last night, while investigators sought to keep Chen in custody to prevent him from colluding with other suspects, local media said. Chen reportedly admitted to taking Isamu's computer, but said that he had done so with the doctor's permission.
■ Crime
Bad meat suspects released
The Pingtung District Prosecutor's Office yesterday released 11 suspects on bail after law enforcement officers had detained them the previous day on charges of selling tainted pork from sick and dead hogs. The environmental police busted the ring in Pingtung County's Changchih Township (長治) and in the city of Pingtung, seizing 5,500kg of tainted pork. The ring's members included seven people with a license to transport sick and dead hogs for safe disposal, as well as several hired hands. Law enforcement officers found that the licensees had actually been butchering the sick and dead hogs and selling the tainted meat. The crackdown in Pingtung County came after police in Yunlin County raided five illegal slaughterhouses on Feb. 1, arresting one suspect and seizing 30 tonnes of tainted pork believed to have been stashed to meet the increased demand for meat during the Lunar New Year holiday.
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