■ POLITICS
TSU challenges singer
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) named its own legislative candidate for Taipei County's Sanchung City to fight it out with a candidate from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The TSU's Deputy Secretary-General Liu Yi-teh (劉一德) was named by the party's Central Executive Committee to run in Sanchung after the DPP decided to ask -- Yu Tian (余天), a 60-year-old singer -- to vie for the seat. Liu will now be pitted against Yu and the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) candidate, Chu Chun-hsiao (朱俊嘵), the incumbent legislator. TSU spokeswoman Chou Mei-li (周美里) deplored the DPP's failure to respond to the TSU's suggestion that the two parties jointly present one candidate after negotiations. Liu said he was surprised that the DPP chose a singer with no past connection to the party to run for the seat. "I liked Yu Tian's singing, but he is totally irrelevant to the legislative election. His contribution to Taiwan's democracy movement is almost nil," Liu said. Liu expressed confidence that, with his 30 years of devotion to Taiwan's democracy movement, he is in a favorable position to compete with Yu in the election scheduled for Jan. 12, next year.
■ POLITICS
Confirmation votes set
Lawmakers scheduled confirmation votes yesterday for President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) nominations for auditor-general of the Ministry of Audit, Judicial Yuan president, Judicial Yuan vice president and members of the Council of Grand Justices for Sept. 14. The new legislative session start on Friday. Caucus whips met yesterday to negotiate the agenda for confirmation matters. They decided to have a plenary session for a question-and-answer meeting with the Ministry of Audit's auditor-general candidate Lin Ching-lung (林慶隆) next Tuesday and a two-day plenary session for a question-and-answer meeting with the candidate for Judicial Yuan president, Lai Ying-jaw (賴英照), and the candidates for grand justices on the following days. The weekly question-and-answer sessions with Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) will begin on Sept. 18, when Chang will brief lawmakers on his administration's policies.
■ Transportation
THSR to increase trains
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSR) announced yesterday that it would increase the number of southbound and northbound daily trains to 91 next Friday. THSR officials also said that passengers can book regular and group tickets for the added trains starting today and new schedules will be available at station information desks on Thursday. The THSR also announced it has cooperated with an international credit card company to provide contactless credit card payment services at the ticketing counter at each station. Passengers can now pay for their tickets using their contactless credit cards.
■ SOCIETY
Kaohsiung loses bid
Kaohsiung lost its bid to host the Asia-Pacific Cities Summit 2009, delegates to this year's summit in Brisbane, Australia, said yesterday. A press release issued by the city quoted Deputy Mayor Cheng Wen-lon (鄭文龍), leader of the five-member delegation, as saying Incheon, South Korea, won the most votes at the end of the four-day Brisbane meeting and so will host the 2009 meet. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said her administration would endeavor to enhance the city's profile by playing host to other international activities. The biannual Asia-Pacific City Summit provides a forum for regional leaders to discuss urban problems.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
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