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Taiwan News Quick Take

■SOCIETY

Captain missing from boat

A Taiwanese fishing boat that had been missing for more than a week has been found, although the captain remained missing. The eight Indonesian crew members were on board, but not the skipper, a foreign ministry official said yesterday. Palauan authorities are questioning the crew about the whereabouts of the Taiwanese captain, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said. The announcement came after a military vessel sent by Palau at the request of Taiwan found the Taiyihsiang earlier yesterday. The ministry asked Palau to help locate the boat after the captain’s family lost contact with him on Tuesday last week. The Fisheries Agency pinpointed the boat’s location with a satellite monitoring system. The boat had been sailing south toward Indonesia. The agency said it feared the captain may have lost command of his boat in a mutiny.



■CRIME

Suspected hackers arrested

Police have arrested six people suspected of stealing personal data from state firms, including information about the president, officials said yesterday. An official at the Criminal Investigation Bureau said hackers had tapped into data held by government agencies, state-run firms, telecom companies and a television shopping network. He called it the biggest hacking operation of its kind in Taiwan. The suspects were believed to have stolen more than 50 million records of personal data, including information about President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and police chief Wang Cho-chiun (王卓鈞), the official said. They then offered to sell the information for NT$300 per entry, he said. The hackers, based in Taiwan and China, also swindled victims out of millions of NT dollars through their online bank accounts, he said. They face up to five years in prison if convicted on charges of hacking and fraud.



■TRANSPORTATION

Kaohsiung scraps late trains

The Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) said yesterday it would cancel late-night trains starting on Monday. The KRTC issued a press release saying that its late-night service had failed to attract as many passengers as it hoped. The late trains were expected to attract employees working at companies along the north-south red line, such as China Steel Corp. To cut costs, the last trains on the red line will leave the end stops at Chiaotou (橋頭) Station in Kaohsiung County and Xiaogang (小港) Station at 11pm. The company had added two 11:35pm trains on a trial basis starting in May to attract employees who work late shifts.



■WEATHER

Storm to the southeast

A tropical depression formed yesterday to the southeast and may be upgraded soon to a tropical storm, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday. At press time, the system’s center was 500km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鸞鼻) in Pingtung County. It was moving northwest at a speed of 15kph. The bureau said the tropical depression was slowing and showed signs it could become a tropical storm. The bureau issued a warning for sea vessels operating east of the Philippines or near the Bashi Channel. Showers and thundershowers are likely today across Taiwan and Matsu as the system influences Taiwan, the bureau said.



■CRIME

Woman convicted in Finland

A Finnish court on Tuesday convicted a woman of murdering her three young children and gave her a life sentence. Taiwan-born Yu-Hsiu-fu was found guilty of strangling her eight-year-old twin daughters and one-year-old son in her home a year ago, the Espoo District Court said. Police said she tried to kill herself after the murders. The court found that the 41-year-old mother was sane at the time of the murders although it said she was desperate because of a bitter custody battle between her and her Finnish husband, from whom she was separated. Prosecutors had demanded life in prison.



■POLITICS

DPP legislator indicted

Tainan prosecutors yesterday indicted Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Chun-yee (李俊毅) on charges of vote buying. Tainan District Prosecutors Office said the Fu-hua Community in Yungkang City (永康市), Tainan County, organized a barbeque activity on Moon Festival last year. Lee, then seeking re-election for this January’s legislative election, allegedly took advantage of his legislative position to apply to co-sponsor the event — which was estimated to have cost him around NT$150,000 — with the Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) and CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油 ). During the barbeque Fu-hua Community Association chairman Hsieh Yao-chung (謝耀忠) allegedly announced: “Lee spent NT$150,000 to sponsor this activity so we will definitely vote for him during the legislative election.” Prosecutors also indicted Hsieh, Lee’s aides Yeh Yi-sheng (葉易陞), Chuang Ching-fen (莊靜芬), Tainan County Councilor Lee Yi-chin’s (李宜瑾) aide Yeh Tsang-hung (葉倉宏) and Fu-hua Community Association’s secretary-general Wang Ching-chin (王清金).