MILITARY
India cemetery re-dedicated
A cemetery in northeastern India where hundreds of Republic of China (ROC) military personnel who died during World War II are buried was re-dedicated yesterday after completion of its renovation. Taiwanese Representative to India Philip Ong (翁文祺) and Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsiung Hsiang-tai (熊湘台) jointly officiated at the re-dedication ceremony in Ramgarh, Jharkhand state. More than 600 ROC officers and soldiers, who fought with Allied troops in World War II near India and northern Indochina, are buried in the cemetery. However, there are only 200-odd tombs, 40 of them marked, since most of the soldiers buried there were unknown. The cemetery was built in 1942 and was renovated this year, according to Chen Hsueh-liang (陳學良), an ROC expatriate in India who has been in charge of the cemetery since 2006. The defense ministry spent NT$7.58 million (US$252,660) for the renovations, which began in July this year.
CRIMES
Man convicted in food scare
The owner of a chemical firm was sentenced yesterday to 18 years in jail for his involvement in a plasticizer-tainted food scandal that rocked the nation earlier this year. The Changhua District Court handed down the jail term to Yu Shen Chemical Co owner Lai Chun-chieh (賴俊傑) for adding chemicals that are banned from food and beverage products. The judges gave Lai’s wife, Chien Ling-yuan (簡玲媛), 16 years in jail for her role as an accomplice in the adulteration of food-processing additives with industrial-use plasticizers. Chin Tung Co owner Pan Shu-lan (潘淑蘭) was given 12 years for supplying Lai with di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP, one of the six plasticizers that were detected in food and beverage products during the crisis. The case can be appealed.
CRIMES
Jail for teen killer upheld
The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 30-year sentence for a teenaged killer involved in two murders, including the high-profile shooting of alleged gang leader Weng Chi-nan (翁奇楠) in May last year. The ruling also upheld the Taiwan High Court’s decision that Liao Kuo-hao (廖國豪) should pay a fine of NT$1.2 million for his two crimes — illegal possession of firearms and murder. Liao was convicted of attempted murder in an attack on a restaurant owner in Taichung in 2009 and for killing Weng and his friend, Lai Jung-chen (賴榮振), at Weng’s office on May 28 last year. He turned himself in 90 days later. As Liao was only 17 years old when he killed Weng and Lai, he was given a combined 25 years in prison in the first trial on Jan. 19. In the second trial in July, the High Court gave him a harsher 30-year sentence, saying that besides murder, he had been in possession of an illegal weapon.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
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