■ DIPLOMACY
Help to Guatemala continues
Taiwan said yesterday it would continue to help Guatemala build a highway connecting the capital, Guatemala City, to El Rancho, a harbor by the Atlantic Ocean. Ambassador Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) confirmed with the Central News Agency that the first phase of the project — expanding the two-lane road to four lanes — had been completed after two years of construction and that Taipei had agreed to continue to fund the project. Ou also said Taiwan was willing and able to provide assistance in cultivating talent for Guatemala’s small and medium enterprises.
■SOCIETY
Aunty White dies at 89
Marjorie Bly, a nurse from the US who treated lepers on Penghu for 54 years, died on Tuesday of heart failure. She was 89. Bly’s heart failure was the result of pneumonia brought on by a bout of flu, said her doctor, Wu Fang-tsan (吳芳燦). Paying his last respects to Bly at the hospital, Penghu County Commissioner Wang Chien-fa (王乾發) described Bly as “Penghu’s angel” and said her death would bring sorrow to many, adding that the county government would issue a public statement recognizing her long-term devotion to the island. Wu Wen-chung (吳文忠), a local priest, said local residents would follow Bly’s instructions and decorate her funeral ceremony with her sunflowers. Wu said the funeral would be simple, with little talk and hymns. Bly herself requested this, Wu said, because “she did not pass away. She is just sleeping.” Bly, nicknamed “Aunty White,” by local residents, was assigned to Taiwan by her church in 1952. She arrived in Penghu two years after that. Last April, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) bestowed a state medal upon Bly in recognition of her contributions and sacrifices for the people of Penghu.
■ EVENTS
Hakka Tung festival opens
The Hakka Tung Blossom Festival opens today, with seven counties in the north and south presenting a variety of activities to celebrate the annual flower season through the end of next month. Council for Hakka Affairs Chairman Lee Yung-teh (李永得) will hold a news conference today to provide information as to where visitors can go to see the spectacular drifts of snow-white flowers, as well as the many other activities reflecting Hakka culture in Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, Changhua and Nantou counties. April and May are the months when tung flowers, also known as paulownia flowers, are in full bloom in central and northern Taiwan.
■ CRIME
Rebar defendant released
The final defendant in the Rebar Asia Pacific Group case still under detention, Wang Lin-i (王令一), was released yesterday on NT$50 million (US$1.6 million) bail. Wang’s lawyer, Lee Wen-chung (李文中), brought the money to the Taipei District Court yesterday morning and Wang was able to leave the Taipei Detention House in the afternoon. Lee said that one of Wang’s friends in the construction business had helped him with part of the money. The other three defendants in detention — Frank Wang (王事展), Wang Lin-tai (王令台) and Wang Lin-chiao (王令僑) — have already paid bail and were released from detention on Monday and Tuesday. The court has requested that the defendants report back to authorities every Wednesday. Frank Wang, Wang Lin-tai and Wang Lin-chiao were all present in court yesterday morning. They declined to comment to the media.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
‘ONE CHINA’: A statement that Berlin decides its own China policy did not seem to sit well with Beijing, which offered only one meeting with the German official German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul’s trip to China has been canceled, a spokesperson for his ministry said yesterday, amid rising tensions between the two nations, including over Taiwan. Wadephul had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earths during his visit, but his comments about Berlin deciding on the “design” of its “one China” policy ahead of the trip appear to have rankled China. Asked about Wadephul’s comments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said the “one China principle” has “no room for any self-definition.” In the interview published on Thursday, Wadephul said he would urge China to
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