■SOCIETY
Man bitten in sex assault
A man had to seek medical treatment after his genitals were bitten while forcing a homeless man to perform oral sex, local media reported yesterday. The incident occurred about 3am on Monday in Daya Park in Taichung County, the Apple Daily said. The man, surnamed Hou (侯), 31, who is homeless, was drunk and loitering in Taya Park when he saw a 60-year-old homeless man, identified only as Kuo (郭), sleeping under a pavilion. Hou woke Kuo up and asked him for money. When Kuo refused to give him money, Hou knocked Kuo to the ground. Kuo pulled himself up and walked into a toilet to urinate. Hou followed him into the toilet, grabbed Kuo’s head and forced Kuo to perform oral sex on him, the paper said. Kuo bit Hou’s genitals, drawing blood and causing Hou flee for help at a police station about 50m away. Police rushed Hou to Cheng Ching Hospital, where doctors said that Hou’s foreskin had several lacerations. Hou was given a tetanus shot and had his wounds treated. The function of his penis was not damaged. After police questioning, Hou was turned over for prosecution on sexual harassment charges.
■CULTURE
Wu mulls ‘Matsu Day’
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday he planned to include Taiwan’s Matsu religious culture in celebrations for the nation’s 100th birthday. When fielding questions from Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator Yen Chin-piao (顏清標), who doubles as chairman of the Da Jia Jenn Lann Temple — a major Matsu temple — the premier also promised to have the Ministry of the Interior consider designating the goddess’ birthday as a national memorial day. Matsu’s birthday falls on March 23 on the Lunar calendar.
■DIPLOMACY
MOFA pushes ‘digital’ ties
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to push for “digital diplomacy” by holding computer-related training sessions and expositions with its allies in Latin America, Weber Shih (施文斌), director-general of the ministry’s Department of Economic Affairs, said yesterday. Sharing Taiwan’s expertise in computers and information technology can help cement bilateral relations as well as bridge the digital gap, Shih said, citing as an example the Compu Expo held in the Dominican Republic early this month, which generated more than US$7.5 million in business opportunities. Taiwan also conducted a seminar on digital developments in Panama yesterday, he said, with more than 80 officials and computer experts from Taiwan, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama expected to attend.
■SOCIETY
Tianmu to hold tree festival
The Taipei City Government said yesterday that part of Tianmu, near Zhongcheng Rd Sec 2, will be closed to traffic on Saturday and Sunday in celebration of the Tianmu Flame Gold-rain Tree Festival. Initiated in 1996 by local businesses, the festival will run from 1pm to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday in front of Eslite Bookstore, featuring various performances and a make-up party. Benjamin Roan (阮燿斌), director of Tianmu Business Association, said the make-up party would be held at 4pm on Sunday, with participants invited to dress up according to the day’s theme — trees. Winners will also receive free coupons from local restaurants. The public is also encouraged to join a book donation activity. The festival takes its name from the approximately 1,600 flame gold-rain trees that stretch along Zhongcheng Road, with the leaves turning yellow and then red around September and October, Roan said.
Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan would issue a decision at 8pm on whether to cancel work and school tomorrow due to forecasted heavy rain, Keelung Mayor Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑) said today. Hsieh told reporters that absent some pressing reason, the four northern cities would announce the decision jointly at 8pm. Keelung is expected to receive between 300mm and 490mm of rain in the period from 2pm today through 2pm tomorrow, Central Weather Administration data showed. Keelung City Government regulations stipulate that school and work can be canceled if rain totals in mountainous or low-elevation areas are forecast to exceed 350mm in
The Central Emergency Operations Center (CEOC) has made a three-phased compulsory evacuation plan for Hualien County’s Mataian River (馬太鞍溪) disaster zone ahead of the potential formation of a typhoon. The plan includes mandatory vertical evacuation using air-raid-style alarms if needed, CEOC chief coordinator Chi Lien-cheng (季連成) told a news conference in the county yesterday. Volunteers would be prohibited from entering the disaster area starting tomorrow, the retired general said. The first phase would be relocating vulnerable residents, including elderly people, disabled people, pregnant women and dialysis patients, in shelters and hospitals, he said. The second phase would be mandatory evacuation of residents living in
EVA Airways president Sun Chia-ming (孫嘉明) and other senior executives yesterday bowed in apology over the death of a flight attendant, saying the company has begun improving its health-reporting, review and work coordination mechanisms. “We promise to handle this matter with the utmost responsibility to ensure safer and healthier working conditions for all EVA Air employees,” Sun said. The flight attendant, a woman surnamed Sun (孫), died on Friday last week of undisclosed causes shortly after returning from a work assignment in Milan, Italy, the airline said. Chinese-language media reported that the woman fell ill working on a Taipei-to-Milan flight on Sept. 22
COUNTERMEASURE: Taiwan was to implement controls for 47 tech products bound for South Africa after the latter downgraded and renamed Taipei’s ‘de facto’ offices The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is still reviewing a new agreement proposed by the South African government last month to regulate the status of reciprocal representative offices, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. Asked about the latest developments in a year-long controversy over Taiwan’s de facto representative office in South Africa, Lin during a legislative session said that the ministry was consulting with legal experts on the proposed new agreement. While the new proposal offers Taiwan greater flexibility, the ministry does not find it acceptable, Lin said without elaborating. The ministry is still open to resuming retaliatory measures against South
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