CRIME
Shooting suspect arrested
The main suspect in the killing of a policemen earlier this week was arrested yesterday evening, police said, adding that the suspect, Chen Chun-ta (陳俊達), had taken police to retrieve the gun he allegedly used in the shooting. An off-duty policeman surnamed Wang (王) was shot dead at a piano bar in Taipei early on Monday morning after he and two friends clashed with Chen and some acquaintances. Earlier yesterday, police officers told a press conference that three Vietnamese nationals who were with Chen when the crime occurred had turned themselves over to officials. As of press time, Chen was still being questioned by police.
CRIME
Man gets 4,613 years in jail
The owner of a private school in Greater Taichung surnamed Wang (王) was sentenced to 4,613 years and 10 months in prison by the Taiwan High Court’s Taichung branch for sexually assaulting female students. The court said Wang, 46, would serve a 30-year term in accordance with the law. Wang can appeal to the Supreme Court. The ruling said Wang sexually assaulted 12 girls a total of 1,103 times. Several girls were assaulted almost every day, and one girl was sexually assaulted 536 times in three years. The girls were aged between first grade and sixth grade. Between September 2006 and June 2010, Wang sexually assaulted the girls during class or in a school van when taking them home, the ruling said. Wang inappropriately touched the victims and sometimes raped them, it said. The ruling said victims told the court that Wang said he would be sentenced to death if they told their parents and the girls would go to jail, too. Some girls were given NT$50 after being assaulted, the ruling said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
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