■ Diplomacy
Nauru embassy opens
Nauruan Foreign Affairs, Trade and Finance Minister David Adeang cut the ribbon to open his South Pacific island nation's newest embassy yesterday in Taipei. The opening was marked with a cocktail party last night. Adeang met President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) at the Presidential Office on Monday. Chen said that Nauru had expressed its willingness to set up an embassy during his visit to that country last year. Chen thanked Adeang and Nauruan President Ludwig Scotty for their firm, unstinting support of Taiwan in its attempts to join international organizations such as the UN, the WHO and the Pacific Islands Forum.
PHOTO: LIU HSIH-DEH, TAIPEI TIMES
■ Politics
DPP lawmakers sentenced
Two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators have been found guilty of slandering former DPP Chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) at a press conference last September. The Taipei District Court said DPP legislators Lin Kuo-ching (林國慶) and Huang Chao-hui (黃昭輝) used offensive language against Shih on Sept. 7 last year. The presiding judge ruled that the press conference was not related to their pair's legislative duties, so their legislative immunity did not apply. Lin was sentenced to 50 days detention, while Huang received a 30-day sentence. Both men can avoid jail time, however, by paying a NT$1,000 per day fine. Lin said he would consult his lawyer about what to do next, while Huang said he would consider whether to appeal.
■ Politics
Su slams Chiu over riot
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) should be jailed immediately and that he should be deprived of his civil rights. "Chiu is a disgrace to the legislature," Su said. "As a result of his attempt to ram a vehicle into the Kaohsiung District Court, not only should he serve his 14-month jail sentence, but judges should also strip him of his civil rights ... And yet, he is still out there, in public. This is not right. He should be jailed immediately." The premier made his remarks during conversations with KMT Legislator Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) at a legislative meeting. Su said Chiu continued to take advantage of this case to promote himself as a hero being jailed for political reasons. The truth, however, is that he led a riot at the Kaohsiung District Court and sullied the image of the KMT and the legislature, Su said. "What he did ... was very humiliating to the legislature," he said.
■ Diplomacy
Hu happy with Japan trip
Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) said yesterday that he was pleased with the results of his six-day visit to Japan. He told a press conference in Japan that he had received positive responses from Yasuchika Negoro, head of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) leagues organization, and NPB Secretary General Kazuo Hasegawa, about exchanges between the baseball organizations in Taichung and Japan. Hu said he had also invited Japanese professional baseball teams to conduct training sessions at Taichung's new Intercontinental Baseball Stadium. Hu arrived home yesterday.
■ Welfare
No child care planned
The government does not have any plans to introduce a child care subsidy program next year as reported in a local daily, Interior Minister Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) told lawmakers yesterday during an question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan. In its Tuesday edition, the Chinese-language China Times revealed the contents of a research report by the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) on the government's population policy. The daily claimed that the MOI plans to provide a "child care subsidy" to families in an effort to stem the nation's declining birth rates. Under the reported "child care program," families with one child will be entitled to a monthly subsidy of NT$2,000 (US$60), while those with two children will receive NT$3,000 per month, and families with three or more children will be eligible for a monthly subsidy of NT$5,000.
■ Diplomacy
China blasts Huang's trip
China criticized St. Lucia yesterday for allowing the foreign minister of Taiwan to visit the Carribean nation and blasted Taipei for trying to split China. Foreign Minister James Huang (黃志芳) visited St. Lucia last week at the host government's invitation, despite the fact that the tiny Carribean island broke ties with Taiwan in 1997 and now has formal diplomatic relations with China. "It is against the principle set in the communique between China and St. Lucia and hurt the feelings of the Chinese people," Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang (秦剛) said of the visit. "China expressed its strong dissatisfaction and opposition to it," Qin told a news conference. Qin said St. Lucia should respect the "one China" principle and also expressed anger at Taiwan over the visit.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
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