■ POLITICS
Eric Chu moves to Sanchong
Former vice premier Eric Chu (朱立倫) moved into his new residence in Sanchong City (三重), Taipei County, yesterday in preparation for November’s mayoral election, when Taipei County will be upgraded to a special municipality called Sinbei City. He paid courtesy calls on some of his neighbors, including the local borough chief, saying that he would develop Sanchong into “a beautiful waterfront city.” Chu, who is the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate for Sinbei, said he would use his new residence as his campaign office. The KMT has pinned its hopes on him after various opinion polls showed that Taipei County Commissioner Chou Hsi-wei (周錫瑋), also of the KMT, would likely lose a bid for re-election, leaving Chu as the party’s best choice.
■ MEDICAL
Families give thanks
The families of three organ recipients expressed thanks to the family of a retired Canadian teacher in Tainan City yesterday. Hans Lammens, who lived in Tainan with his wife Sandra Lammens, fell off his bicycle on May 7 and died five days later. Lammens’ wife, an English teacher at National Nanke International Experimental High School, decided to donate his organs, including his heart, kidneys, liver, cornea and sclera. The husband of a kidney recipient, identified only by his family name Liu, presented flowers to her yesterday at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) Hospital, where the organ transplant surgery took place on May 13. “Finally, my wife does not need to live in the hospital anymore,” said Liu, whose wife was required to visit the hospital three times a week for kidney dialysis. The Lammens’ family also gave the organ donor’s funeral and burial subsidies to charities.
■ ENTERTAINMENT
Ke Hsiang-ting passes away
Award-winning movie actor and founding member of a local trade union for actors, Ke Hsiang-ting (葛香亭), died on Sunday at his Taipei home at the age of 92. His family said his health had deteriorated in recent days and his children were at his bedside when he passed away. Born in China’s Jiangsu Province, Ke joined the military, where he began his acting career serving in the entertainment corps after arriving in Taiwan with the army. His involvement in the entertainment industry spanned six decades. He won a Golden Horse award in 1965 for best leading actor for his role in Beautiful Duckling and again in 1970 for The Evergreen Mountains. In 2005, he received a Golden Horse lifetime achievement award. Besides his work in front of the camera, he also worked to improve the welfare of those in the industry and in 1978 founded the Actor’s Union of the Republic of China.
■ POLITICS
Obesity survey awaited
NCKU announced yesterday that it would release the results of the country’s first university survey of the weights of students at the end of this month. NCKU authorities used the slogan “Check Your Weight, Before Losing It” to promote the survey, which was conducted last month. NCKU surveyed a total of 6,000 of its sophomores and juniors. The survey was aimed at spurring students to check their weight regularly, control their diet and get as much exercise as possible, the university said. NCKU authorities would not, however, take any action to force overweight students to lose weight, it said. Meanwhile, the university has invited nutritionists from NCKU Hospital to advise campus restaurants on how to offer low-fat, high-fiber meals to students.
EXPANSIONIST: China deploys an average of 40 to 50 warships and coast guard vessels daily in the South China Sea, despite pledges not to militarize the region, an official said China is attempting to expand its influence across the First Island Chain and increase pressure on Japan by sending coast guard vessels into waters off of Taiwan under the pretext of maritime negotiations with Japan and the Philippines, a national security official said yesterday. China’s recent actions in the waters east of Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are attempts to establish dominance in First Island Chain waters, said the official who declined to be named, adding that this is “expansion disguised as law enforcement.” Framing China’s actions solely as a cross-strait issue is a serious misjudgment that
EXCUSES: Beijing is using government and research vessels as a pretext to harass the nation and enter its EEZ, and engage in ‘hegemonic expansion,’ the coast guard said The Coast Guard Administration yesterday said it drove away Chinese oceanographic research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 22 (向陽紅33) from restricted waters after warning it that it was in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The Chinese vessel entered restricted waters off the coast of Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳) at 11:35pm on Thursday, the coast guard said, adding that it dispatched the Lanyu patrol vessel and the boat PP-10077 to shadow the Chinese ship and issue radio warnings ordering it to leave. China has no sovereignty over waters off Taiwan’s east coast, Lanyu’s crew told Xiang Yang Hong 22 over the radio, and demanded
Several major reservoirs are estimated to have received 590 million tonnes of water inflow from June 4 to this morning, with storage levels at Wushantou Reservoir exceeding 50 percent and Zengwen Reservoir approaching 30 percent as of 9am today, data from the Water Resources Agency showed. Of the estimated 590 million tonnes, 450 million have already been stored in reservoirs, the data showed. As of 9am today, Baoshan Reservoir storage levels reached 100 percent, while Baoshan Second Reservoir, Yongheshan Reservoir and Techi Reservoir all exceeded 90 percent, data on the Water Resources Agency’s Web site showed. In addition, the Shimen Reservoir is at
BAIT AND SWITCH: Allowing KMT-run counties to sell to China while the threat of abrupt cancelations hangs overhead is another form of coercion, officials said Beijing is using agricultural purchase offers announced during the Straits Forum to deepen Taiwan’s dependence on the Chinese market, a Taiwanese official said yesterday as they criticized the Taitung County commissioner’s participation in the initiative. During the Straits Forum held in Xiamen on Saturday, Chinese officials announced a sales and purchase agreement for agricultural products from some counties led by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Taitung County Commissioner Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴), who was barred from attending the event in person by the Mainland Affairs Council, participated via video. Under the agreement, China would purchase atemoyas, pomeloes, tea and grouper harvested in Taitung,
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