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Taiwan News Quick Take

■ POLITICS

Shyr rebuts nominee report

National Communications Commission (NCC) spokesman Howard Shyr (石世豪) said yesterday he believed the Cabinet could come up with a good roster of nominees for the commission soon. “The list is worth waiting for,” Shyr said in response to a report yesterday by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) that the Cabinet already had a predetermined list of nominees. Current commissioners Liu Tsung-de (劉宗德) and Hsieh Chin-nan (謝進男) are expected to be renominated, while Shyr and two other current commissioners, including chairman Su Yeong-chin (蘇永欽) and Lee Tsu-yuan (李祖原), were not on the list, the report said. Shyr denied having seen the list and also rebutted speculation that Su would move on to become the chief justice of the Council of Grand Justices. Shyr said Su had earlier indicated he wanted to return to National Chengchi University and teach. Shyr said he would also return to National Dong Hwa University’s law school. “I’ll continue to work hard as long as I’m still an NCC commissioner,” he said.



■ DEFENSE

Ma observes war games

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday participated in the first annual Han Kuang series of military exercises since he took office. Ma arrived at the military’s Hengshan Headquarters (衡山指揮所) in Dazhi at around 10am to observe a war game simulating a Chinese military strike against Taiwan in 2009 with the Taiwanese Air Force and Navy both suffering defeats on the first day of hostilities. The Ministry of National Defense said that the full-scale military exercises, which will include the Air Force, the Army, the Navy and the Marines, will be held sometime in September.



■ RECREATION

Cable passengers near 5m

The Maokong Gondola is expected to carry its 5 millionth passenger aloft soon, as more than 4.96 million people had taken the cable service as of Wednesday, the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The gondola’s passenger volume is expected to break the 5 million mark this weekend, and a range of festive activities have been planned for next month, including a lucky draw for prizes such as a 1,600cc sedan valued at NT$600,000 (US$19,750), TRTC said. The celebrations will be held on July 4, the first anniversary of the gondola service that connects two popular tourist attractions in Taipei — the Taipei City Zoo and the Muzha Maokong tea growing area. Other planned activities include an evening concert, the release of 1,300 sets of commemorative gondola tickets and giveaways of 6,000 environmentally friendly bottles to passengers, the TRTC said.



■ POLITICS

Local chiefs may visit PRC

Local government heads will have more opportunities to visit China starting early next month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The council said that local administrators, academicians and experts on cross-strait affairs are still discussing the issue on relaxing restrictions on visits by city and county heads to China, but the Cabinet is expected to give the green light next Thursday — a day before the launch of weekend direct cross-strait charter flights. The relaxation would allow local government chiefs to visit China as long as their trips are related to city or county affairs and bilateral exchanges. The issue came under the media spotlight after the MAC rejected an application by Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) to travel aboard the first weekend direct cross-strait charter flight from Taichung to China.


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