TOURISM
Taiwanese hurt in bus crash
Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) yesterday said that nine Taiwanese tourists were injured in a bus crash in which four people died in Bandung, Indonesia, on Monday night. Lin said that the staff of the ministry’s mission in the country has been sent to help the injured. Non of the Taiwanese were in mortal danger, while one has already been discharged from hospital, Lin said, in response to a question from Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) at the legislature. According to the ministry, the bus was carrying Taiwanese and Chinese tourists when it overturned on a mountain road, killing three Chinese and one Indonesian.
SCIENCE
France honors local scientist
Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), a former president of Academia Sinica and a winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, was honored by the French government yesterday for his contribution to scientific exchanges between Taiwan and France. Lee was made a Grand Officer of the National Order of Merit. Presenting Lee’s medal, the French Office in Taipei praised Lee for helping to strengthen scientific ties between the two countries. Lee has been an example of the saying “science has no boundaries,” French office director Olivier Richard said. As a result of Lee’s efforts, the two countries now work together on more than 160 scientific projects each year, the office said. In an interview earlier this week, Lee said his two goals in life were to “become a good scientist” and “create a beautiful world with people who share the same beliefs.” To this end, he is leading a project called “Future Earth” as president of the International Council for Science, a non-governmental organization.
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