■ POLITICS
KMT expels Tainan speaker
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday revoked the party membership of Tainan County Council Speaker Wu Chien-bao (吳健保) following his indictment in a professional baseball match-fixing scandal. Banciao District prosecutors on Wednesday indicted 24 people for fixing games in exchange for money and sex. Prosecutors have also requested a nine-year prison sentence and a fine of NT$50 million (US$1.6 million) for Wu, accusing the council speaker of fraud and involvement in organized crime. “Wu's behavior has damaged the KMT’s reputation and violated party regulations. His membership should be revoked immediately,” KMT’s Disciplinary Committee said in a statement yesterday.
■ SOCIETY
AIT reports missing person
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) is asking the public to help locate a missing US citizen. According to AIT, 62-year-old Fu Duong Vuong (王補養) was last seen on Feb. 5 leaving a relative's home in Taipei City's Wenshan District (文山). She was wearing a light blue shirt, black pants, black shoes and carrying a red umbrella. Fu’s family said she has early stage Alzheimer's Disease and did not have any medication or money with her when she went missing. Anyone who has information on Fu can call the Taipei City Immigration unit at (02) 2389-2650 or report it to the local police station. For details, see www.ait.org.tw.
■ POLITICS
US' China policy 'changing'
The US government has adopted an increasingly tougher stance on its dealings with China, said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Kuo-liang (謝國樑), who had just returned from a visit to the US. Hsieh said yesterday that many of the US lawmakers and academics he met during his visit said there had been “subtle” changes in Washington's China policy since US President Barack Obama's moderate and low-key approach toward China had not received a positive response from Beijing, as evidenced by its attitude on international issues such as the value of the Chinese currency and climate change. After being criticized as being “too weak,” the Obama administration has recently become tougher toward China, Hsieh said, citing Obama's approval late last month of an arms sales package to Taiwan and the possibility that he might meet with the Dalai Lama. “Subtle changes are taking place among the triangular Taipei-Washington-Beijing relations, and Taiwan should try to strike a strategic balance in the relationship to pursue its best interests,” Hsieh said.
■ CRIME
Pirates release trawler
Somali pirates yesterday freed a Taiwanese trawler they had used as a “mother ship” to attack other vessels during a 10-month ordeal that three crew did not survive, a maritime watchdog said. The Win Far 161, hijacked on April 6 last year near the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, was freed for a “relatively small ransom,” said a statement by Ecoterra International, an environmental NGO monitoring maritime activity in the region. The Win Far was the longest-running case of Somali piracy, with two Indonesians and one Chinese among the original crew of 30 dying during their last month of captivity, Ecoterra said. “The three died of malnutrition, disease and neglect over the course of the last month,” Ecoterra said, adding that the hostages’ respective authorities did not provide any assistance in attempts to facilitate humanitarian relief.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
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