■ SPORTS
Council moving south
The Sports Affairs Council, currently located in Taipei, is moving south and will start its operations in Kaohsiung beginning next month, council Deputy Chairman Lee Kao-hsiang (李高祥) said yesterday. The move is part of the administration's policy to relocate some government offices to the south to balance regional development and follows the Council of Agriculture's Fisheries Agency move to Kaohsiung late last year. The council will be relocated to the National Sports Training Center in Tsoying (左營), Kaohsiung City. Lee said the Cabinet had appropriated NT$28.37 million (US$735,400) for the relocation, including a monthly living allowance of NT$20,000 for each of the 114 staffers as compensation for the inconvenience.
■ POLITICS
KMT confirms nominations
The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) highest decision-making body yesterday confirmed the nomination of Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and KMT Legislator Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) for the positions of speaker and deputy speaker respectively. The party decided to support Wang's proposed re-election as speaker after it won a landslide victory in the legislative elections, and selected Tseng as its deputy speaker candidate via a straw poll on Monday. The KMT's Central Standing Committee also passed amendments for the regulations on the establishment of the party's integrity committee yesterday, expanding its scope by increasing the number of members from 11 to 15. KMT spokesman Huang Yu-cheng (黃玉振) said the party is seeking to include more professionals in the committee to prevent inter-party corruption.
■ DIPLOMACY
Amendment includes Taiwan
By a vote of 25-3, the WHO executive board yesterday passed a China-sponsored amendment to the International Health Regulations of 2005 that includes Taiwan in the global health framework in principle, Taiwan's representative to Geneva Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) told CNA yesterday. Despite earlier media reports saying that China wanted to block Taiwan's representation in the health agreement with its draft amendment, Shen said that Taiwan "did not lose" as the "universal application" clause proposed by Taiwan's allies, also called the "Taiwan clause," was in the amendment. The issue of Taiwan's representation in the regulations had been taken seriously and fully debated by the board, Shen said.
■ POLITICS
Alleged gangster released
A campaign worker for Democratic Progressive Party legislator-elect Yu Tien (余天), alleged gangster Wang Ying-lan (王瑛嵐), was released yesterday on NT$100,000 (US$3,000) bail over his alleged involvement in a case of threatening the supporters of an opposition candidate during the legislative election campaign. Police suspected that Wang warned a borough warden, Chuang Chin-lung (莊金龍), an entertainer better known as Kao Chun (高群), and other wardens not to support Yu's opponent, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chu Chun-hsiao (朱俊曉), and not to perform at Chu's campaign rallies. Police said Wang told Chuang he would gather some gangsters at Chung's home to "drink tea." Yu defeated Chu by a narrow margin in the Jan. 12 legislative elections, and Chu said he would file a lawsuit seeking to annul Yu's victory.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
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