■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.
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
COVID-19 infections have climbed for three consecutive weeks and are likely to reach another peak between next month and June, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Weekly hospital visits for the disease increased by 19 percent from the previous week, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said. From Tuesday last week to yesterday, 21 cases of severe COVID-19 and seven deaths were confirmed, and from Sept. 1 last year to yesterday, there were 600 cases and 129 deaths, he said. From Oct. 1 last year to yesterday, 95.9 percent of the severe cases and 96.7 percent of the deaths
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened 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), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
Restarting the No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant would take up to 18 months, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said today. Kuo was answering questions during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Economics Committee, where legislators are considering amendments to the Renewable Energy Development Act (再生能源發展條) amid concerns about the consequences of the Pingtung County reactor’s decommissioning scheduled for May 17. Its decommissioning is to mark the end of Taiwan’s nuclear power production. However, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have proposed an amendment to the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) that would extend the life of existing
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