■POLITICS
Ma to respect Yilan fine
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said he would respect an Yilan County Election Commission decision to fine him NT$500,000 for citing opinion polls within 10 days of the weekend’s local elections, and would pay the fine with his own money, the party said yesterday. “Chairman Ma said it was his personal negligence, and he should take full responsibility for it,” KMT Spokesman Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) said yesterday at KMT headquarters. Ma cited an opinion poll when addressing the KMT Central Standing Committee meeting in Yilan County on Nov. 25 as indicating that the race in Yilan would be tight and party members should step up campaign efforts. Article 53 of the Election and Recall Act (選舉罷免法) prohibits individuals and political parties from reporting, publishing, commenting on or quoting the results of opinion polls in the 10 days before an election.
■ENVIRONMENT
Littering fines increased
Motorists who throw waste or litter on the nation’s freeways will soon face tougher penalties under initiatives announced by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA). While fines for the illegal disposal of waste are set at between NT $1,200 and NT$6,000 under the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法), EPA officials said that because of increasing amounts of waste on freeways, offenders would now be charged under the Act Governing the Punishment of Violation of Road Traffic Regulation (道路交通管理處罰條例), which carries a minimum fine of NT$3,000. Both acts contain overlapping passages dealing with illegal waste disposed from moving vehicles. Officials said that most litter on freeways were return tickets and receipts from toll booths.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
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