■ 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.
ENDORSING TAIWAN: Honduran presidential candidate Nasry Afura said that Honduras was ‘100 times better off’ when it was allied with Taipei The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said it would explore the possibility of restoring diplomatic relations with Honduras based on the principle of maintaining national interests and dignity. The ministry made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions regarding an article titled: “Will Taiwan Regain a Diplomatic Ally?” published in The Diplomat on Saturday. The article said Honduras’ presidential election in November could offer Taiwan the chance to regain an ally, as multiple candidates have promoted re-establishing diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Honduras severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in March 2023 in favor of Beijing, but since switching its diplomatic recognition,
A fourth public debate was held today about restarting the recently decommissioned Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, ahead of a referendum on the controversial issue to be held in less than two weeks. A referendum on Aug. 23 is to ask voters if they agree that “the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant should continue operations upon approval by the competent authority and confirmation that there are no safety concerns.” Anyone over 18 years of age can vote in the referendum. The vote comes just three months after its final reactor shut down, officially making Taiwan nuclear-free. Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) represented
Scoot announced yesterday that starting in October, it would increase flights between Taipei and Japan’s Narita airport and Hokkaido, and between Singapore and Taipei. The low-cost airline, a subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, also said it would launch flights to Chiang Rai in Thailand, Okinawa and Tokyo’s Haneda airport between December and March next year. Flights between Singapore and Chiang Rai would begin on Jan. 1, with five flights per week operated by an Embraer E190-E2 aircraft, Scoot said. Flights between Singapore and Okinawa would begin on Dec. 15, with three flights per week operated by Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline said. Services between Singapore
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced a ban on all current and former government officials from traveling to China to attend a military parade on Sept. 3, which Beijing is to hold to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. "This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Republic of China’s victory in the War of Resistance [Against Japan]," MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a regular news briefing in Taipei. To prevent Beijing from using the Sept. 3 military parade and related events for "united
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