FISHERIES
Fishing crew free on bail
A Taiwanese fishing boat and its five crewmen that were detained by Japanese authorities on Thursday for sailing into Japan’s territorial waters have been released after bail was arranged, the Suao Fishermen’s Association said yesterday. The Suao-registered longline fishing boat, the Sheng Fu Chin No. 26, was seized by a boat belonging to Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries about 28 nautical miles (52km) northwest of Ishigaki Island. The five-person crew consisting of Tawainese skipper Wu Wan-cai (伍萬彩) and four Indonesians, were arrested for illegal cross-border fishing, the association said. The boat and the crew were released after the ship’s owner put up bail of ￥4 million (US$39,000), it said, adding that it was not sure when the ship would return to Taiwan. Wu told Japanese authorities that he was heading toward Japanese waters to retrieve fishing gear drifting in that direction when the boat suffered a mechanical failure and crossed into Japanese territory accidentally.
DIPLOMACY
Vietnam’s PM thanks Taiwan
Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Thursday praised Taiwan’s contribution to his nation’s economic development and expressed deep regret for the damage suffered by Taiwanese businesses during last month’s anti-China riots. Dung made the remarks while meeting a delegation led by Council of Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce in Vietnam chairwoman Liu Mei-te (劉美德), according to Vietnamese VTV9’s Web site. “Taiwan is one of Vietnam’s successful investment partners, and Taiwanese businesspeople serve as the bridge to link the close ties between the two sides,” Dung was quoted as saying. Liu expressed gratitude for the Vietnamese government’s support, and called for tax reductions to help the businesses that have suffered return to normal operation. Liu said that despite the riots, Taiwan’s businesses will still continue expanding their investments in Vietnam. The riots erupted on May 13 after Vietnamese crowds took to the streets to protest against a Chinese oil-drilling venture in an area of the South China Sea that is also claimed by Hanoi.
ENTERTAINMENT
Golden Melody ad released
A 30-second TV commercial for the 25th Golden Melody Awards was released yesterday to promote the annual event, which is to be held late this month. Featuring some of the nation’s biggest music stars, including Jay Chou (周杰倫), Chang Hui-mei (張惠妹, A-mei) and Jody Chiang (江惠), the commercial was directed by award-winning music video director Bill Chia (賈弘源). Chou, known as the king of Mandarin pop, Chiang, the diva of Taiwanese-language music, and “Pride of Taiwan” A-mei have racked up 132 nominations and 29 Golden Melody awards between them. The 25th Golden Melody Awards ceremony will be held at Taipei Arena on June 28, and the Taiwan Television Enterprise, which is hosting the awards show, is to broadcast the red carpet event and the ceremony live beginning at 5pm.
SOCIETY
Chinese identity poll released
A recent survey showed that less than 50 percent of Taiwan’s people recognized themselves as Chinese in the second quarter of this year. This was the first time the figure has dropped below 50 percent since the first quarter of last year, Hsieh Ming-hui (謝明輝), executive director of the Taiwan Competitiveness Forum (TCF), said on Thursday.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
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