■DIPLOMACY
Former premier to visit US
Former premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) will lead a delegation of lawmakers and business leaders to Washington on Feb. 4 to attend the National Prayer Breakfast and a forum sponsored by a US think tank. On Feb. 5, Liu will participate in a forum jointly sponsored by The Heritage Foundation and the Taiwanese Association of America. He will discuss with US academics topics related to the future of Taiwan-US ties after the recent controversy over US beef imports to Taiwan. The former premier will also give a speech at the forum.
■CRIME
Police track diamond thief
Police said yesterday they were working with their counterparts in Japan to trace a man they believe has stolen valuable diamond rings in both countries. The man took millions of dollars worth of jewelry from a De Beers shop at Taipei 101, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said. He did so by pretending to be a customer shopping for a ring for his sister, the bureau said. He was accompanied by a local woman, who said she was approached by the man who claimed to be a foreign tourist and needed someone to try the ring on for him, the bureau said.
■FILM
‘Cape No. 7’ to go musical
The director of the nation’s most successful recent blockbuster — Cape No. 7 (海角七號) — is working on a musical version of the movie, sources said. Wei Te-sheng (魏德聖) is planning to adapt the movie about two love stories between two Taiwanese-Japanese couples into a musical, but the time frame has not been finalized, said Lian Yi-chou (連乙州), a producer with Taiwan’s Dafeng Theater Company. Cape No. 7, is the second-best-selling film in Taiwanese history.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to 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), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition