Following the release of two inmates on parole from a Thai jail earlier this year, another two Taiwanese inmates have applied for parole in the coming month, a non-government legal aid group said last week.
The second pair have handed in their applications for parole, which are likely to be approved in the coming month, said Chang Hsueh-hai (張學海), the head of the Taiwan Association for Legal Aid, who paid a recent visit to the prisoners.
The first Taiwanese prisoner to be paroled in Thailand was Su Hsiang-ju (蘇相如), who returned to Taiwan on Nov. 4 last year.
Su was originally sentenced to death for his involvement in a drug case in 1986, but his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
He was granted a special pardon by King Bhumibol Adulyadej after 23 years as part of a prison amnesty program to mark the 60th anniversary of the monarch’s coronation.
Bhumibol turns 84 this year and Chang said the king will likely grant special pardons to inmates who have shown good behavior as part of his birthday celebrations.
About 30 other Taiwanese inmates have applied for parole and have a good chance of having their terms reduced, Chang said.
There are 186 Taiwanese currently imprisoned in Thailand, down from 220 earlier this year, most of whom have been convicted of drug offenses or fraud.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard