■ POLITICS
Hackers attack DPP site
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) condemned Chinese hackers on Tuesday for breaking into its Web site for a third time. Liao Chih-chien (廖志堅), deputy director of the DPP’s Information and Culture Department, confirmed that the Web site was taken offline after staff found that the DPP’s party flag on the site had been replaced by China’s national flag. The Chinese hackers also posted the words “protesting the release” of former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Chen was recently released from detention without bail by the Taipei District Court after prosecutors indicted him and his wife on charges of embezzlement, bribe-taking and money laundering. Liao said IT engineers would need a full day to determine whether important information on the site had been lost. This was the third time Chinese hackers had broken into the DPP’s Web site. The previous two incidents occurred in June 2004 when Chen was DPP chairman and again during the chairmanship of Yu Shyi-kun.
■ POLITICS
Asset row rumbles on
The Ministry of Justice said yesterday that government ministries should decide themselves whether directors of state-owned enterprises and non-profit organizations should declare their assets. Ministry of Justice Deputy Minister Huang Shih-ming (黃世銘) told a press conference that since enterprises and non-profit organizations owned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Government Information Office and other agencies have different characteristics, the individual ministries should decide whether directors should declare their assets. Under the amended Act on Property Declaration by Public Servants (公職人員財產申報法), which took effect in October, board directors of state-owned enterprises and non-profit organizations must declare their assets and those of their spouses. The deadline for declarations is the end of this month. A number of board members of institutions supervised by the ministries have threatened to quit over the amendment.
■ CRIME
Yeh released on bail
Former Bureau of Investigation director-general Yeh Sheng-mao (葉盛茂) was released on NT$5 million (US$156,000) bail last night. He is banned from relocating. Yeh was detained on Oct. 6 for withholding information about the former first family’s alleged money laundering and leaking information to former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). The court found Yeh guilty of corruption, concealing a government file and leaking confidential information, for which he received an eight-and-a-half year jail term. He was also convicted of leaking confidential information, for which he was sentenced to two-and-a-half years. The two sentences were combined into a jail term of 10 years. Yeh will also be deprived of his civil rights for five years.
■ SCIENCE
Park scheduled for 2013
The Hsinchu Biomedical Science Park will be fully operational by 2013, following a modification to its development strategy earlier this year, science park administration officials said yesterday. Randy Yen (顏宗明), director-general of the Hsinchu Science Park Administration, said that most of the park would be devoted to a national medical center that focuses on clinical research and translational medicine. Yen said he hoped the center would bridge the gap between clinical practice and biomedical research and boost the nation’s biomedical industry.
“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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