■CRIME
US court to try Taiwanese
A Taiwanese man has been extradited from Hong Kong to New York to face charges of smuggling military equipment from the US to Taiwan, including infrared laser aiming devices for rifles and a fighter pilot helmet. Peng Yen-ching (彭彥清) was arrested in Hong Kong in December. He could face more than 20 years in prison if convicted. He made a brief appearance in federal court in Manhattan on Monday. A defense lawyer did not return a telephone message seeking comment. A New York man has pleaded guilty to smuggling charges in the case and has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison.
■OLYMPICS
Mayor visits medalist
Tainan Mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) paid a visit yesterday to the nation’s first medalist in the Beijing Olympic Games — Chen Wei-ling (陳葦綾), who won a bronze medal in the women’s 48kg-class weightlifting competition. Her performance marked a significant improvement over her 11th place finish in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Hsu met Chen at her home and presented her with a red envelope containing a cash award of NT$20,000, plus Koji pottery artwork. He said the city government would present her with a citizen of honor award in recognition of her achievement. Chen will be the 13th resident of Tainan to receive such an award. After winning the bronze, Chen also received news that National Taiwan Sport University would hire her as an instructor.
■TOURISM
Penghu to discuss casinos
A total of 38 forums will be held around Penghu County this fall to gather the opinions of locals on the development of casinos. The forums, scheduled to be held between next Tuesday and Sept. 22 at various locations around Penghu, including the rural islets of Jibei (吉貝), Hujing (虎井) and Niaoyu (鳥嶼), are targeted at reaching a consensus of all Penghu residents on casino development in their hometown, officials from the Penghu County Tourism Bureau said. Eight academics from National Penghu University and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology are expected to join county officials and representatives of Penghu-based travel agencies at the forums to inform Penghu residents of the advantages and disadvantages of developing tourist casino hotels in Penghu. The forums came after Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) announced at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday that decriminalizing gambling in offshore areas of the country would be one of the administration’s goals.
■LABOR
Direct hire pact inked
Taiwan and the Philippines have signed guidelines for a direct employment program, Tsai Meng-liang (蔡孟良), the director of the Council of Labor Affairs’ Foreign Workers’ Administration said yesterday. Tsai said the nation’s representative to the Philippines, Donald Lee (李傳通), and his Philippine counterpart, Antonio Basilio, inked the agreement in Cebu late last month. Under the guidelines, direct employment will be expanded to cover not only caregivers, but also foreign workers in the manufacturing and construction industries, Tsai said, adding that application procedures would be simplified. The countries will also collaborate to reduce the number of repatriated and runaway workers, Tsai said, adding that as of the end of last month, 2,700 Filipino workers were reported missing. About 85,000 Filipinos, out of a total 358,000 foreign workers, are employed in Taiwan, the Ministry of the Interior said.
■DIPLOMACY
Feng assigned to Japan
Former ambassador to the Dominican Republic John Feng (馮寄台) will be the nation’s new representative to Japan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said last night. MOFA said that Feng was familiar with Japan as he attended elementary and high school there as his father was also a diplomat. He later attended graduate school at Harvard University and went on to become one of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) most-trusted diplomats. Feng’s appointment to Japan reflects the fact that Ma values the relationship between Taiwan and Japan, the ministry said.
■DIPLOMACY
SEF chairman to visit Japan
Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) is scheduled to travel to Japan on Monday to give a series of speeches on the government’s cross-strait policy and the prospect for relations between Taiwan and Japan. Chiang will make the visit at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an attempt to allay Tokyo’s concern over the effects of warming relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait as a result of President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) policies toward China, informed ministry sources said.
■TOURISM
TRA launches cruise trains
The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) is working to launch regular runs of “cruise liner-style” trains next month on three rail lines that pass through scenic areas of Taiwan, the TRA deputy director-general said yesterday. Chang Ying-huei (張應輝) said the TRA’s first “cruise train” attracted a full train of passengers for a one-day sightseeing tour on the Hualien-Taitung Line on Aug. 11. Encouraged by the popularity, the TRA plans to open one cruise train everyday from Monday to Thursday.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
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