■POLITICS
Tseng libel ruling upheld
The Supreme Court yesterday found former New Party legislator Elmer Feng (馮滬祥) and former Overseas Compatriots Commission member Tai Chi (戴錡) guilty of claiming that former president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) wife, Tseng Wen-hui (曾文惠), tried to take 54 suitcases stuffed with as much as US$850 million out of the country after the 2000 presidential election. The case of another former New Party legislator, Hsieh Chi-ta (謝啟大), who also played a role in the accusation against Tseng, was returned to the Taiwan High Court for further review. In 2002, Tseng won a libel suit against the trio over their accusations. The court yesterday handed down the ruling for the civil suit, ordering Feng and Tai each to pay a compensation of NT$2 million (US$63,000) to Tseng, and to publish half-page apology ads in three Chinese-language newspapers: the Liberty Times, United Daily News and China Times. Yesterday’s ruling was final.
■ DIPLOMACY
No Africa trip for Ma
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has decided not to visit the country’s diplomatic allies in Africa this year. Ma was reportedly scheduled to visit Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principle, Swaziland and the Republic of the Gambia in September. “President Ma has no plans to visit Africa this year on concerns over coming typhoon season. The year-end special municipality elections will also keep him busy,” Department of African Affairs Director-General Samuel Chen (陳士良) said. Ma would attend the annual Africa reception on May 25, organized by African ambassadors to celebrate African Liberation Day, a commemoration of their liberation from European colonial powers 50 years ago, Chen said. The ministry would also hold a series of events to celebrate the anniversary, he said
■ CRIME
'Prankster’ freed on bail
Taiwan-born Lin Nan-hai (林南海), who was held in China for allegedly claiming to have a bomb in his luggage, was released on bail yesterday after he was extradited to Taipei on Wednesday, a Taiwanese prosecutor said yesterday. Chinese authorities arrested Lin, who is a US citizen, on Saturday after he allegedly made the claim on a China Airlines flight bound for Shanghai, leading pilots to divert to Hangzhou. No explosives were found on the flight while Lin, 68, reportedly told Chinese police that he was only “making a joke.” Lin was released on bail of NT$20,000 (US$625), pending further investigation, the prosecutor said. He faces charges of violating the Civil Aviation Law (民用航空法), which carries a maximum three-year prison term and a fine of NT$1.5 million.
■ TRANSPORTATION
Kenting shuttle bus starts
An express bus service began this month for travelers heading from the Zuoying (左營) high speed rail station to Kenting (墾丁). The Kenting Express Line will make stops at Dapeng Bay (大鵬灣), Fangliao (枋寮) and five other spots in Pingtung County, with the one-way trip taking about two hours, the bureaus said. A one-way ticket costs NT$383. Between now and June 30, a roundtrip ticket will cost only NT$600. The bus is part of the Tourism Bureau’s efforts to encourage people to use the public transportation system when traveling. For more details on the service, visit www.taiwantrip.com.tw/ or http://www.kentingtrip.com.tw/.
US climber Alex Honnold is to attempt to scale Taipei 101 without a rope and harness in a live Netflix special on Jan. 24, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday. Accounting for the time difference, the two-hour broadcast of Honnold’s climb, called Skyscraper Live, is to air on Jan. 23 in the US, Netflix said in a statement. Honnold, 40, was the first person ever to free solo climb the 900m El Capitan rock formation in Yosemite National Park — a feat that was recorded and later made into the 2018 documentary film Free Solo. Netflix previewed Skyscraper Live in October, after videos
Starting on Jan. 1, YouBike riders must have insurance to use the service, and a six-month trial of NT$5 coupons under certain conditions would be implemented to balance bike shortages, a joint statement from transportation departments across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan announced yesterday. The rental bike system operator said that coupons would be offered to riders to rent bikes from full stations, for riders who take out an electric-assisted bike from a full station, and for riders who return a bike to an empty station. All riders with YouBike accounts are automatically eligible for the program, and each membership account
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
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