■MEDIA
Lawmaker pans NCC plan
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) yesterday voiced opposition to the National Communications Commission’s (NCC) proposal to relax restrictions on the government, political parties and the military from holding shares in media companies. The NCC said that while it was important for the three to stay out of the media, the rules had generated problems in some of the NCC’s rulings because some media corporations are publicly traded, meaning the government can purchase shares on the stock market. Lo yesterday said that allowing political parties to fund the media would be a setback to democracy. KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), however, said the NCC’s proposal was “practical.”
■TRANSPORTATION
TRA increases cruise trains
The Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) said yesterday that it would increase cruise train services next year because they had proven popular among travelers. TRA Deputy Director-General Chang Ying-huei (張應輝) said the TRA launched cruise train services in August last year to test the market response. Since then, the administration dispatched a total of 131 cruise trains. Approximately 27,000 passengers boarded the cruise trains, which helped generate revenue of NT$12.23 million (US$378,000) for the nation’s biggest railway system. “Tickets for cruise trains were sold quickly, with all the seats booked,” Chang said. Meanwhile, the TRA also published the first issue of its cruise train magazine for customers of cruise train services. The magazine introduces five major cruise train routes around the nation, and has a page for passengers to collect memorial stamps on the routes.
■SOCIETY
Designer wins red dot
Taiwan visual designer Lin Horng-jer (林宏澤) won a “best of the best” award in the communication design category of this year’s red dot design awards — the world’s biggest design competition. Lin, the first Taiwanese to win the title, was recognized for his project Save Me, which advocates nature conservation, Kaohsiung City’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs said. The piece is made up of three different images: a man embracing the Earth, a polar bear with melting icebergs in the background and three Formosan landlocked salmon — an endangered species from Taiwan. Lin is an associate professor at Tainan University of Technology’s Department of Visual Communication Design and president of the Taiwan Poster Design Association.
■CRIME
Cop stabbed 10 times
A policeman surnamed Lai (賴), 27, from Dazhi Police station in Taipei was stabbed more than 10 times in the neck and back by a crime suspect surnamed Dai (戴) on Monday evening. The policeman was pronounced dead after he was rushed to Mackay Memorial Hospital. The suspect, 50, was arrested by the military for taking pictures of the Hengshan Military Command Center in 2004 in accordance with the Military Stronghold And Fortress Terrain Act (要塞堡壘地帶法). But he fled after he was granted bail and had since been wanted by police. On Monday, Dai was arrested and taken under police escort in a car driven by Lai. Dai was not handcuffed nor was he searched before he was put in the backseat of the police car. When the car arrived at the police station, Dai took out a knife and stabbed Lai in a vain attempt to flee.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
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