POLITICS
Ma fined for Facebook post
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) regrets the illegal campaign activity on his Facebook page during the presidential campaign and will pay a fine in accordance with the law, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) said yesterday. The Central Election Commission (CEC) on Tuesday fined Ma NT$500,000 (US$16,800) for violating the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) by soliciting votes on his campaign headquarters’ Facebook page on Jan. 14, the day of the election. The Facebook page, titled Taiwan Bravo, posted the contents of Ma’s speech made at a campaign rally on the eve of the election, in which he called for voter support on election day. KMT spokesperson Lai Su-ju (賴素如) yesterday said Taiwan Bravo staff posted the article on the Facebook page following the speech without knowing that the move violated the law, as the content was posted after midnight.
DIPLOMACY
Former AIT diplomat dies
Darrell Jenks, chief of the American Institute in Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Branch Office from 1996 to 1999, passed away on Tuesday in Baltimore, Maryland, the AIT said in a statement yesterday. The AIT invited friends of Jenks who would like to pay their condolences to stop by the office from yesterday to May 31. The office has prepared a condolence book for people to sign and leave messages that will be forwarded to his family after May 31. During his tenure in Kaohsiung, Jenks was active in Taiwanese language studies and jazz performance, the AIT said. Jenks was admired for his outgoing personality and exceptional linguistic abilities. He spoke eight languages in addition to English, including Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Taiwanese, the AIT said.
AVIATION
FAT plane leaves runway
A Far Eastern Air Transport (FAT) plane appeared to overrun the runway when it landed at Magong airport yesterday morning. No injuries were reported. The Aviation Safety Council has begun an investigation into the incident, which delayed eight other flights. The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said the FAT plane departed from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) at 9:45am and landed at Magong airport in Penghu County at 10:45am. The pilot apparently failed to brake in time to come to a stop at the end of the runway and the aircraft’s tires crushed lighting off the temporary runway. In a statement, FAT said the aircraft did not overrun the runway and simply exceeded a stop line on the runway. The company said the incident could have been caused by strong winds and rain.
SOCIETY
Kaohsiung gets i-pass
The Kaohsiung MRT system is to launch its first custom-made i-pass card in an effort to boost the system’s low ridership, Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) said yesterday. The stored-value cards, designed for residents living along MRT lines, can be used as security access control cards for their homes, and can also be used on city buses, the MRT and ferries, the KRTC said. Cardholders can also use them for purchases at some stores and for taking buses in Taipei, Greater Taichung, Greater Tainan and Pingtung County. KRTC general manager Hau Chien-sheng (郝建生) expressed hope that cooperating with a local real-estate development company would increase ridership. The average passenger count per day last month was 145,353.
‘ANGRY’: Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of ‘the people of the Republic of China’ experienced disqualified Lai from being president, Ma Ying-jeou said Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II. Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced a ban on all current and former government officials from traveling to China to attend a military parade on Sept. 3, which Beijing is to hold to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. "This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Republic of China’s victory in the War of Resistance [Against Japan]," MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a regular news briefing in Taipei. To prevent Beijing from using the Sept. 3 military parade and related events for "united
‘OFFSHORE OPERATIONS’: Also in Dallas, Texas, the Ministry of Economic Affairs inaugurated its third Taiwan Trade and Investment Center to foster closer cooperation The 2025 Taiwan Expo USA opened on Thursday in Dallas, Texas, featuring 150 Taiwanese companies showcasing their latest technologies in the fields of drones, smart manufacturing and healthcare. The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the event’s organizer, said the exhibitors this year include Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (Foxconn), the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer; AUO; PC brand Asustek Computer; and drone maker Thunder Tiger. In his opening speech, TAITRA chairman James Huang (黃志芳) said he expected Texas to become a world-class center for innovation and manufacturing as US technology companies from Silicon Valley and Taiwanese manufacturers form an industrial cluster
A 20-year-old man yesterday evening was electrocuted and fell to his death after he climbed a seven-story-high electricity tower to photograph the sunset, causing a wildfire on Datong Mountain (大同山) in New Taipei City’s Shulin District (樹林), the Taoyuan Police Department said today. The man, surnamed Hsieh (謝), was accompanied on an evening walk by a 20-year-old woman surnamed Shang (尚) who remained on the ground and witnessed the incident, capturing a final photograph of her friend sitting atop the tower before his death, an initial investigation showed. Shang then sought higher ground to call for help, police said. The New Taipei
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