■ 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.”
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
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