■ 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.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese