■ earthquakes
Twelve tremors hit nation
The nation was struck by 12 undersea earthquakes yesterday, including a powerful one in the east, but there were no reports of damage or casualties, the earthquake center said yesterday. The first quake, measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale occurred at 2:28am, shaking Taitung County. The second tremor struck 24 minutes later with a magnitude of 4.3 near Chengkung (成功) in Taitung, the center said. Ten other quakes, measuring more than 4 on the Richter scale, including one with a magnitude of 5.4 and another of 5.2, rocked the eastern county between 3:33am and 9:04am, it said. There were no reports of damage or casualties, the center and police said.
■ politics
Cabinet doesn’t need DPP
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday he did not think that the incoming Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration, which is a majority government, needed to recruit DPP members to the new Cabinet, emphasizing that cooperation between political parties should focus on policy. Hsieh made the remarks in response to a report published in yesterday’s Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) that DPP legislators had expressed reservations on the possible recruitment of Straits Exchange Foundation Vice Chairman Hong Chi-chang (洪奇昌) to the new Cabinet. Dismissing the possibility as hypothetical, Hsieh said the question concerned personal desire and that his party would not begin considering such a possibility until the KMT administration officially made an announcement. Hong last night denied that he would join the new Cabinet, saying he would resign along with the other members of the current Cabinet before May 20.
■ crime
Fine, but no jail for Wu
The Tainan branch of the Taiwan High Court yesterday converted Tainan County Council Speaker Wu Chien-pao’s (吳健保) five-month jail sentence for gambling into a fine, adding that the verdict was not subject to appeal. A spokesperson for the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, which meted out the jail sentence on April 10, said the office found the verdict regrettable but respected it. Wu ran several gambling houses in Tainan County between 2004 and 2005. On one occasion, then Tainan County deputy council speaker Kuo Hsiu-chu (郭秀珠) lost more than NT$80 million during a 10-day period. Wu was indicted on gambling charges by Tainan prosecutors. The decision on a second appeal issued on Feb. 2 this year said that Wu could pay a fine instead of serving jail time. The Tainan Prosecutors’ Office, however, decided not to allow Wu to substitute the jail sentence for a fine of NT$137,700, and instead sent Wu directly to jail. Wu immediately filed an appeal, with the High Court ruling in favor of a fine.
■ politics
No invitation for Chen yet
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has not yet decided whether to attend president-elect Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) inauguration on May 20 because he has not received an invitation, the Presidential Office said yesterday. The Presidential Office issued a statement dismissing a recent TVBS report that claimed Chen had turned down the invitation because it was customary for Chen to do volunteer work on inauguration day. “There is considerable discrepancy between fact and the report,” the statement said. In response, Ma’s spokesman Lo Chih-chiang (羅智強) said yesterday that Ma’s office would send out the invitations, including Chen’s, after finalizing the guest list.
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
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