■ DEFENSE
Air show canceled
The Air Force yesterday decided to reschedule an air show at its Sungshan Command Headquarters from Sunday to Sept. 2 because of the approach of Typhoon Sepat. The Air Force said that the open house activity and the air show activities will be rescheduled to Sept. 2 at the same place and the same time. An activity at Taichung's Chingchunkang Base tomorrow will be rescheduled to Aug. 26.
■ JUDICIARY
Justices to be named
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is likely to nominate Yang Jen-shou (楊仁壽), head of the Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Functionaries, to replace Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生) as president of the Judicial Yuan. Weng is retiring, an anonymous source from the legislature said yesterday. A high-ranking official in the legislature said that Chen would submit a list of eight nominees for the Council of Grand Justices to the legislature for confirmation by Tuesday, to succeed the eight justices whose terms of office will expire at the end of next month, including Weng.
■ TRAVEL
Licenses accepted in Japan
The Japanese Cabinet approved on Wednesday an amendment to its traffic laws that recognizes Taiwanese drivers' licenses. Holders of Taiwanese drivers' licenses will be able to drive on roads in Japan starting on Sept. 19, a Taiwanese official stationed in Tokyo said yesterday. The goodwill measure adopted by the Japanese government follows its granting of 90-day visa-free visits for Taiwanese tourists in September 2005. The official said Taiwan's government would recognize Japanese drivers' licenses soon as a reciprocal gesture. Under the new Japanese regulations, a translated certificate should be attached to the drivers' licenses. According to reports, travel service operators in Hokkaido had made great efforts to persuade the Japanese government to recognize Taiwanese licenses.
■ POLITICS
Official's election annulled
The head of a Kaohsiung County township who was elected in December 2005 will be relieved of his position after the Kaohsiung branch of the Taiwan High Court annulled his election on Wednesday. Lin June-tsung (林榮宗), head of Niaosung Township (鳥松) and a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), slammed the court ruling, but said he had no choice but to accept the decision, which is final. Lin assumed office on March 1 last year. The Kaohsiung District Court found Lin guilty of vote-buying in a criminal suit in June last year. That ruling was overturned by the High Court in May this year, but Lin then lost a civil suit in which he contended that the 27 votes his camp was suspected of buying did not sway the outcome of the election, as he won by 3,034 votes. The High Court rejected that argument.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Housing research under way
Chaoyang University of Technology in Taichung County has launched a project to develop eco-friendly housing, a dean said yesterday. A research team will work on prefabricated houses to cut energy consumption and reduce environmental impact, the dean of the College of Enterprise Innovation said. The team expects to finish the project in one year and hopes to see mass production of the housing design begin shortly afterward.
ALIGNED THINKING: Taiwan and Japan have a mutual interest in trade, culture and engineering, and can work together for stability, Cho Jung-tai said Taiwan and Japan are two like-minded countries willing to work together to form a “safety barrier” in the Indo-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday said at the opening ceremony of the 35th Taiwan-Japan Modern Engineering and Technology Symposium in Taipei. Taiwan and Japan are close geographically and closer emotionally, he added. Citing the overflowing of a barrier lake in the Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) in September, Cho said the submersible water level sensors given by Japan during the disaster helped Taiwan monitor the lake’s water levels more accurately. Japan also provided a lot of vaccines early in the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic,
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Monday announced light shows and themed traffic lights to welcome fans of South Korean pop group Twice to the port city. The group is to play Kaohsiung on Saturday as part of its “This Is For” world tour. It would be the group’s first performance in Taiwan since its debut 10 years ago. The all-female group consists of five South Koreans, three Japanese and Tainan’s Chou Tzu-yu (周子瑜), the first Taiwan-born and raised member of a South Korean girl group. To promote the group’s arrival, the city has been holding a series of events, including a pop-up
TEMPORAL/SPIRITUAL: Beijing’s claim that the next Buddhist leader must come from China is a heavy-handed political maneuver that will fall flat-faced, experts said China’s requirement that the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation to be born in China and approved by Beijing has drawn criticism, with experts at a forum in Taipei yesterday saying that if Beijing were to put forth its own Dalai Lama, the person would not be recognized by the Tibetan Buddhist community. The experts made a remarks at the two-day forum hosted by the Tibet Religious Foundation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama titled: “The Snow Land Forum: Finding Common Ground on Tibet.” China says it has the right to determine the Dalai Lama’s reincarnation, as it claims sovereignty over Tibet since ancient times,
Temperatures in some parts of Taiwan are expected to fall sharply to lows of 15°C later this week as seasonal northeasterly winds strengthen, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. It is to be the strongest cold wave to affect northern Taiwan this autumn, while Chiayi County in the southwest and some parts of central Taiwan are likely to also see lower temperatures due to radiational cooling, which occurs under conditions of clear skies, light winds and dry weather, the CWA said. Across Taiwan, temperatures are to fall gradually this week, dropping to 15°C to 16°C in the early hours of Wednesday
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