CRIME
NIA cracks smuggling ring
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it had cracked a human smuggling ring, arresting its leader. The agency, working in collaboration with the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office and the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, arrested alleged ringleader Wu Shih-yao (吳世耀) upon his return to Taiwan. Authorities had received intelligence saying that since last year several Chinese had used forged Republic of China passports to enter Canada from Japan, South Korea, Macau and Malaysia, the agency said. Wu allegedly recruited more than 10 Taiwanese businesspeople in China who would provide the would-be illegal immigrants with boarding passes, it added. The ring made 200,000 Chinese yuan (US$32,590) per successful case, earning more than US$1 million in total, the NIA said. Wu, who denied the charges, was transferred to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning.
DIPLOMACY
Lawmakers to visit US
A group of lawmakers depart for New York today on a visit, organized by the Taiwan-US Inter-Parliamentary Amity Association, to exchange views on important issues with US officials, representatives and academics. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), the head of the association, said the group would be larger than in previous years and consist of eight lawmakers from across party lines. The delegation is to fly to New York to meet with representatives of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies at the UN and members of a US think tank, before heading to Washington to meet with US lawmakers and government officials. The main topics of discussion are expected to be arms sales and Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, Lin said. The group is to finish its visit in San Francisco, where it plans to meet overseas Taiwanese associations.
POLITICS
Units to move to Sinjhuang
Several central and local government units are to move into a newly opened office building in New Taipei City (新北市) in September, which is set to bring new business opportunities to the area. A total of 13 central and local government units, including the Ministry of Culture, the Hakka Affairs Council and the Council of Indigenous Peoples, plan to move into a new building in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District (新莊), but Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Ping-jui (吳秉叡) said that according to the floor plan, the entire seventh and eighth floors of the building are to be used for document storage, giving rise to the question of whether the office space is being used efficiently. The Ministry of the Interior’s Construction and Planning Agency said the building would house 3,460 staff.
HEALTH
Fourth JE case reported
The nation saw its fourth case of Japanese encephalitis (JE) this year at the end of last month, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported. A 42-year-old male developed symptoms of fever, vomiting and loss of appetite, and later experienced reduced consciousness before being hospitalized and diagnosed with the disease, the CDC said on Tuesday. The patient lives and works close to pig farms, paddy fields and dove cotes, which are the breeding habitats of the Culex tritaeniorhynchus mosquito, the main vector for the disease, physician Phillip Lo (羅一鈞) said. Lo cautioned the public to make sure their surroundings are clear of mosquito breeding grounds.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all