■ POLITICS
KMT names appointments
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) revealed the names of five Cabinet members appointed to its Central Standing Committee (CSC) yesterday: Cabinet Secretary-General Hsueh Hsiang-chuan (薛香川), Minister of the Interior Liao Liou-yi (廖了以), Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德), Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) and Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國). The appointments will enhance cooperation between the party and the government, the KMT said. KMT Spokesman Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) said the five designated CSC members would attend the CSC’s weekly meetings starting next week. The KMT began inviting Cabinet members to CSC meetings earlier this year.
■ POLITICS
Taisugar official to resign
Taiwan Sugar Corp chairman Wu Rong-ming (吳容明) yesterday reiterated his intention to resign, saying he wanted to express dissatisfaction at the Cabinet’s decision to promote Chen Ching-bin (陳清彬) to company president. Wu said that under the rules governing state-owned enterprises, a candidate for president should be recommended by the chairman to the Cabinet. Wu said he had recommended Chi Tsung-chi (紀聰吉), a land management professor at Feng Chia University, but that the Cabinet violated the system to choose Chen. In response, the Cabinet said it would respect the final decision of Minister of Economic Affairs Yiin Chii-ming (尹啟銘) after he returns from the APEC forum in Peru.
■ HEALTH
Official encourages flu shots
The Department of Health yesterday called for those at high risk of catching influenza to get free flu vaccines before the end of the month. Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director General Lin Ting (林頂) said the remaining stock of free flu shots should be given to those who are vulnerable to influenza before being offered to others next month. Lin said senior citizens, children between the ages of six months and three years, elementary students in the first to fourth grades, medical professionals, those who live in nursing homes or other care facilities and poultry workers should get the shots. He said that the centers had purchased 3.2 million doses this year, of which 700,000 shots remained as of Monday. “Due to the enthusiastic response to the offer, only around 610,000 shots for adults and around 80,000 shots for children are left,” he said. He estimated that when the shots are offered to the public on Monday there will be around 600,000 shots left. The CDC estimated the influenza outbreak this year would peak in early January. As it takes about two weeks for a flu shot to build protection, Lin urged the public to get shots no later than the middle of next month.
■ CRIME
Smuggled goods seized
The Keelung Customs mobile inspection brigade seized 11,250kg of smuggled herbicide, it said yesterday. The seized herbicide, Nitrofen, which is primarily used by growers of rice and certain vegetables to control broadleaf weeds and grasses, has an estimated market value of NT$30 million (US$1 million), the office said. It said the team had inspected a shipment of 45 drums allegedly containing an organic surface active agent because it suspected that the bottom of the drums contained a solid material. The team drilled holes in the bottom of the barrels with the consent of the importer and discovered they concealed Nitrofen. Officials are continuing to investigate the case.
■ CRIME
Fake credit cards seized
Customs officials at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport seized 201 fake credit cards from a Taiwanese passenger returning from Macau last Thursday, the Taipei Customs Office said on Monday. The credit cards were discovered when the passenger, surnamed Liao, was passing through customs. Considering it abnormal for a passenger to carry so many credit cards, the officials decided to request help from the National Credit Card Center to determine whether the cards were fake, the customs office said. After a verification process lasting several days, the center reported that all the cards were fake, although they appeared to be issued by various well-known banks, including the Bank of East Asia in Hong Kong, the DBS Bank of Singapore and two British banks, Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC.
■ NAVAL
Gutted ship towed back
A Taiwanese fishing boat found empty and gutted by fire in the South Pacific was being towed back to Taiwan for investigation after hopes faded of finding its 29 crew members alive, an official said yesterday. The scorched shell of the Tai Ching 21 was found near Kiribati on Nov. 9 with no sign of the crew members — from Taiwan, China, Indonesia and the Philippines — or its three life rafts and one lifeboat. A New Zealand Air Force Orion airplane spent more than 30 hours searching 54,000km² of ocean in the central Pacific north of Fiji, but found nothing. The air search was suspended on Saturday. Fiji Navy Warrant Officer Anare Rasunusunu said the boat was being towed back to Taiwan, and “from there they will make an assessment and investigation.”
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
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