■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.
Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
The disruption of 941 flights in and out of Taiwan due to China’s large-scale military exercises was no accident, but rather the result of a “quasi-blockade” used to simulate creating the air and sea routes needed for an amphibious landing, a military expert said. The disruptions occurred on Tuesday and lasted about 10 hours as China conducted live-fire drills in the Taiwan Strait. The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said the exercises affected 857 international flights and 84 domestic flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers. Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲), a research fellow at the government-sponsored Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said the air
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
A strong continental cold air mass is to bring pollutants to Taiwan from tomorrow, the Ministry of Environment said today, as it issued an “orange” air quality alert for most of the country. All of Taiwan except for Hualien and Taitung counties is to be under an “orange” air quality alert tomorrow, indicating air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups. In China, areas from Shandong to Shanghai have been enveloped in haze since Saturday, the ministry said in a news release. Yesterday, hourly concentrations of PM2.5 in these areas ranged from 65 to 160 micrograms per cubic meter (mg/m³), and pollutants were
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