Taiwan Quick Take

■ POLITICS
Chiang to sue over statues
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) yesterday filed a lawsuit against Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) over the city government's "rude" removal of statues of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石). "I demand Chen Chu publish an apology in three newspapers for insulting our families. I am seeking compensation of NT$1," said John Chiang, a grandson of Chiang Kai-shek. The fact that many of the statues were destroyed or taken apart as they were removed showed that Chen had committed defamation, the lawmaker said. Chen replied that there was "no way" she would apologize. She instead asked John Chiang to apologize for the 228 Incident during which Chiang Kai-shek's regime killed tens of thousands of Taiwanese in 1947.

■ CROSS-STRAIT
Warning over blackmail
The government has warned civil servants against visiting prostitutes in China, fearing that they could be exposed to blackmail by the Chinese authorities, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported yesterday. The daily said several civil servants were forced to write "letters of remorse" after police caught them soliciting prostitutes in China last November. "They were warned that their friends and the media would receive compromising pictures if they should make pro-independence comments or acts following their return home," it said. A Mainland Affairs Council official confirmed that a warning had been issued to civil servants, but refused to give details. "We've received a relevant message from our intelligence agencies," Wei Shu-chuan (魏淑娟) said. "We warned civil servants not to deviate from their travel itineraries to avoid unnecessary risks and problems."

■ CRIME
Arrest over airline assault
Aviation police at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport detained a Japanese man on Monday for sexually harassing a female flight attendant on a Cathay Pacific Airways flight from Japan. A spokesman for the Aviation Police Office confirmed that airport police detained the man and would file charges against him. The spokesman said the unnamed individual is an engineer who frequently travels to Taiwan to do maintenance work and had already seemed intoxicated when he asked for another alcoholic drink from the flight attendant. He allegedly touched her breasts and abdomen while the airplane was taxiing. The offender faces a prison term of up to two years plus a fine of up to NT$100,000 (US$3,000).

■ TRANSPORTATION
Hsuehshan Tunnel closures
The Hsuehshan Tunnel on the Chiang Wei-shui Freeway (Freeway No. 5) will close for a four-hour period on Monday and again the following Wednesday for seasonal drills focusing on disaster prevention and control, the Taiwan Area National Expressway Bureau said yesterday. The closure will take place from 9pm to 1am on Monday and 9am to 1pm on Wednesday and will affect traffic between Pinglin Township (坪林) in Taipei County and Toucheng Township (頭城) in Ilan County, officials said. The bureau suggested that drivers traveling to Ilan from Taipei leave the freeway at the Shihding (石碇) interchange and take County Highway 106 to Pinglin before taking Provincial Highway 9 to Ilan. Drivers from Ilan to Taipei can leave the freeway at the Toucheng interchange and take Provincial Highway 9 to Pinglin before taking County Highway 106 to Shihding, where they can join the freeway.