■ CRIME
Tu Li-ping offered help
Prosecutors have contacted the family of Tu Li-ping (杜麗萍), a suspect in the corruption allegations involving the former first family, who attempted suicide on Saturday night, said Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南), the spokesman for the Special Investigation Panel (SIP) of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office. Chen said yesterday that prosecutors told Tu's family that the judiciary would offer Tu personal protection if needed. Tu, a board member of Yuanta Securities, attempted suicide by taking sleeping pills and inhaling car exhaust fumes one day after she was released by the Taipei District Court on bail of NT$1 million (US$303,303). Minister of Justice Wang Ching-feng (王清峰) told a legislative meeting yesterday that she “was sad to hear Tu had attempted suicide, and I hope Tu would appreciate her life more and face the investigation forthrightly.” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said the constant leaks of investigation information by prosecutors to the media had made Tu's life miserable, leading to her suicide attempt.
■ TELECOMS
NCC orders cable rate cut
The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday ordered eight cable service providers in six counties — Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu — to lower their basic cable TV rates starting on Jan. 1. The six are the only counties that have not set up a committee to regulate cable TV rates and are thus still subject to review by the NCC. The rate cuts of between NT$20 and NT$50 will translate into savings of between NT$240 and NT$600 per year for customers. The Taipei City Government decided on Friday to maintain basic cable TV rates in the city at NT$530 per month, while reducing rates for low-income households from one-third of the regular rate to one-fourth, effective on Jan. 1.
■ TRANSPORT
Late service on Dec. 31
The Kaohsiung MRT's operating hours will be extended on Dec. 31 for the convenience of residents taking part in the city's various New Year's Eve celebrations, the city's Transit Bureau and Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) said yesterday. Huang Yi-chung (黃一中), director of the KRTC's Public Affairs Department, said MRT train services would run until 2am instead of the usual 11:30pm. Huang said although there is no MRT station adjacent to the square outside the Dream Mall, where one of the main New Year's Eve activities will be held, shuttle bus services from the site to nearby stations will be available. The city expects about 300,000 people to join the year-end festivities.
■ HEALTH
Students sickened by 'gas'
More than 20 students at Chaoliao Junior High School in Kaohsiung County were sent to hospital for treatment yesterday morning after a suspected gas leak in the vicinity of the school. Kaohsiung Municipal Hsiao-Kang Hospital, where seven of the female students were sent, said they were treated for nausea and dizziness but were not suffering from any serious ailments. The hospital said the students were put on intravenous drips and placed under observation, adding that their condition was not life threatening. Kuo Hung-chu (郭虹珠), principal of the school located next to the Ta Fa Industrial District, said that shortly after 8am several faculty members and students suddenly noticed a strange gaseous odor similar to that of a pesticide and that soon afterward many students began experiencing tightness in the chest, dizziness and even vomiting.
STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai