■POLITICS
Hu hopping mad over ad
Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) yesterday said that a cosmetic surgeon who used a photo of Hu’s wife to promote a cosmetic cream could face litigation. Local media reported that a television commercial showed the surgeon claiming that the couple are grateful for the effect of a cream from his clinic. The ad says the cream helped Hu’s wife Shirley Shaw (邵曉鈴) recover her looks after a serious car accident, showing a photo of Shaw and what is said to be a note of appreciation signed by the mayor. According to reports, the cosmetic surgeon’s father was formerly Hu’s colleague at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the note shown in the ad was a card Hu sent to the surgeon’s father. Hu said yesterday that Shaw had never used the cream or received advice or treatment from the medical team that appear in the advertisement.
■SOCIETY
Man becomes oldest groom
A 96-year-old temple keeper has become the nation’s oldest recorded groom after marrying a woman less than a third his age, local media reported yesterday. The man, surnamed Lin (林), who runs a Taoist temple in Tainan County, married a 30-year-old from China’s Hunan Province, the Apple Daily said. Lin, who has two adopted children, although he has never married, told the paper that he was “instructed” by the gods to go to Hunan to find a wife. He decided to tie the knot despite strong objections from his 68-year-old adopted son, who suspected that the elderly man had been conned, the report said. “I must have a companion in my old days ... I’ve never been married before so why can’t I marry her? [My son] is unfilial,” he was quoted as saying. Lin is currently applying for his wife to come to Taiwan to live with him, the report said.
■TRANSPORTATION
Cardholders can use trains
Starting yesterday, holders of Taiwan EasyGo Cards can use them on Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) trains. The Taiwan EasyGo Cards are mainly used by public bus passengers in Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin, Hualien and Taitung Counties. The TRA said passengers with Taiwan EasyGo Cards can use trains operating on the line from Rueifang (瑞芳) to Hsinchu (新竹). Passengers can use their cards at any of the 29 stations on this section of line. Passengers can also use Taipei EasyCards to access the TRA system between Keelung and Jhungli (中壢), which has 19 stations. Passengers boarding with either EasyGo Cards or EasyCards can take any type of train service at the price set for commuter trains, plus a 10 percent discount. Aside from the EasyCards and EasyGo Cards, the TRA is also encouraging commuters to buy its monthly pass, enabling them to board any train for the price of a commuter train ticket plus a 15 percent discount.
■ DIPLOMACY
Ma stops off in Guam
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) arrived in the US territory of Guam yesterday from the Solomon Islands for a brief refueling stop en route to Palau for a state visit. American Institute in Taiwan Chairman Raymond Burghardt, the top US liaison officer with Taiwan, boarded Ma’s plane to welcome him upon arrival. Guam Governor Felix Camacho and US Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo also came to the airport to greet Ma. He departed the Solomon Islands earlier in the day. Palau will be the sixth and final leg of his weeklong diplomatic tour of the country’s six allies in the South Pacific. He has already visited the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Nauru and the Solomon Islands. He is due back in Taipei today.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
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