■ CRIME
Court ruling on Wang Chin
The Los Angeles Federal Court of Appeals is expected to rule against Wang Chin She-ying (王金世英), the wife of former Rebar Group chairman Wang You-theng, in her case against the state-run Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐國際商銀), a Central News Agency (CNA) report said yesterday. CNA said that the court would ask Wang Chin to return nearly US$20 million to Mega, the biggest creditor bank of the Rebar Group. The report quoted Hung Maan-huei (洪滿惠), an attorney for Mega, as saying that the lawyers of Mega and Wang Chin had received a ruling from a judge, saying Wang Chin should be responsible for the debt. Hung added the judge issued the document on April 30 and that attorneys for either side could file an appeal before May 12. Hung said the formal ruling would be handed down later this month.
■ POLITICS
Card to head US delegation
Former White House chief of staff Andrew Card will lead a five-member US delegation to attend president-elect Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) inauguration ceremony on May 20, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said on Monday. Card held the position under US President George W. Bush until April 2006, making him the second-longest serving White House chief of staff, AIT said in a statement. Under former president George H.W. Bush, Card served as assistant to the president, deputy chief of staff and secretary of transportation. Card also served as special assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs in the administration of former president Ronald Reagan, AIT said. The other members of Card’s delegation are AIT Chairman Raymond Burghardt, AIT Taipei Office Director Stephen Young, former Massachusetts lieutenant governor Kerry Healey, and Frank Fahrenkopf, a member on the board of the International Republic Institute, the AIT said.
■ POLITICS
Hanoi protests over Spratlys
The Vietnamese government has asked Taiwan to call off a planned inspection tour of the disputed Spratly Islands, one of two archipelagos in the South China sea claimed by several countries in the region, local press reported yesterday. “Vietnam resolutely objects to all activities violating its sovereignty over the two archipelagos,” government spokesman Le Dung said. Minister of National Defense Michael Tsai (蔡明憲) had been scheduled to visit the Spratlys before postponing the trip because of bad weather on Monday. Vietnam, Taiwan, China, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei each claim all or part of the Spratlys and the nearby Paracels, and all but Brunei have a military presence on one or more of the atolls. Taiwan has constructed an airstrip on Taiping island, while Vietnam has stationed sailors on another.
■ SOCIETY
Strollers safe: MOEA
A recent survey has found no unsafe baby strollers on the market, but parents should still be cautious when purchasing and operating the carts to lower the risks, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a press release yesterday. In March, the ministry’s Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection and the Consumers’ Foundation randomly inspected 12 baby strollers made in Taiwan or China. All the carriages passed the national safety standards, including clear product safety labeling, the brake effectiveness and product durability.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it