SOCIETY
Wang Tso-yung dies
Former Control Yuan president Wang Tso-yung (王作榮) died from pneumonia on Tuesday at the age of 95, his family said. Wang, who headed the government watchdog from 1996 to 1999 under then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), felt unwell on Sunday and was admitted to Taipei Veterans General Hospital, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia, according to People First Party Legislator Thomas Lee (李桐豪), who was one of Wang’s students. Wang’s condition deteriorated on Monday, leading to septicemia and shock, which caused his death on Tuesday morning, the lawmaker said. Wang’s last public appearance was on June 17, when President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) honored him with an Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon for his contribution to the country. He received the honor while sitting in a wheelchair and had to thank Ma through his son, Wang Nien-tsu (王念祖), who said the award gave his father the greatest pleasure.
WEATHER
Tropical storm brings rain
A tropical storm that formed in the South China Sea yesterday may not affect the nation directly, but it could trigger heavy showers in eastern and southern parts of the nation, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. As of 2pm, Tropical Storm Jebi was centered 980km southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), moving northwest at 9kph, the bureau said. The storm was packing sustained winds of 65kph, gusting to 90kph. The storm is expected to remain far from Taiwan over the next few days, forecasters said. Ships operating in waters south of Taiwan have been warned to be on the alert for high waves. Jebi, which means “swallow” in Korean, is the ninth storm of this year’s Pacific typhoon season.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
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