■ POLITICS
Former lawmaker dies
Former People First Party legislator Lin Hui-kuan (林惠官), 53, passed away early yesterday morning as a result of post-surgery complications. His family issued a written statement saying that Lin was scheduled to be discharged from hospital two weeks after undergoing surgery of his neck in the middle of last month, but he was transferred to the National Taiwan University Hospital’s emergency room after developing complications and suffering from septicemia following the operation. Lin served two terms as a legislator-at-large for the People First Party and was known as a labor rights advocate. He served as chairman of Matsu Liquor Factory Industry Co after he was not nominated by his party for a seat in the present legislative term.
■ CULTURE
US deaf theater to perform
The Taipei Organizing Committee of the 21st Summer Deaflympics, Taiwan’s Seeing and Smiling Theater of the Deaf and the American Institute in Taiwan are sponsoring two performances and one workshop by the US National Theatre of the Deaf’s Little Theatre of the Deaf. The performances and workshop are free of charge and will take place in Taipei from Sept. 11 to Sept. 13. The Little Theatre of the Deaf will perform Tree Wise, which tells the story of a girl who has deaf parents and has made a new friend at school. Through the help of a special tree, the girl learns how to help her friend and her other classmates understand deaf culture. Tree Wise will be performed in easy-to-understand English and using American Sign Language and is suitable for both adults and children, the American Institute in Taiwan said.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
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