FISHERIES
Itu Aba mission planned
Twelve Taiwanese fishermen aboard five boats are to sail today for Taiwan-controlled Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) in the South China Sea to highlight the nation’s sovereignty over the region, organizers of the voyage said yesterday. Ten fishing boats from Pingtung County had originally intended to take part in the action, but five of them dropped out after receiving warnings from fishery authorities, organizers said. Cheng Chun-chung (鄭春忠), the fishing boat owner who initiated the action, said he was told by a fisheries official that he would have his boat license revoked if he sailed to the island, because the vessel is only permitted to sail between Taiwan, China and Hong Kong. Cheng said he would not back down, even at the risk of having his license revoked. Organizers received a box of clothes and hats bearing a national flag design from a supporter in Taichung, who urged the fishermen to wear them.
CRIME
Bombing suspect detained
A motion was approved yesterday to detain the suspect in a train explosion in Taipei on July 7. The motion filed by prosecutors with the Taipei District Court followed hours of questioning of Lin Ying-chang (林英昌), who allegedly detonated an explosive device on a commuter train as it was pulling into Songshan Railway Station. Prosecutors accused Lin of attempted murder, endangering public safety and illegal possession of ammunition and told the court he posed a flight risk. The 55-year-old was one of 25 people injured in the blast and remained hospitalized. He was identified by police as the main suspect after GPS information led officers to his van, while surveillance footage from various locations Lin visited showed him carrying a canvas bag identical to one police found in the train’s bathroom after the explosion. Police said that when they searched Lin’s van, which was in Nantou County, they found a will written by the suspect that said he was ill and wanted to die. After comparing Lin’s DNA with samples found on pieces of the pipe bomb used on the train, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said that it was Lin who brought the device onboard. Police said Lin expected to die in the explosion. He was being treated for tonsil cancer and mental illness, while he faced financial difficulties in recent years, police said. On July 15, Lin said under questioning that he wanted to get the public’s attention, police said, adding that he also said he set off the explosive device by himself and had no accomplices.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook to launch ratings
Facebook is to work with Nielsen Ratings to launch digital ratings in the second half of this year, Jayne Leung (梁幼莓), head of the social media giant’s Greater China operations, said yesterday. Taiwan is to be the first market in which the program will be launched in the region, while Hong Kong is scheduled for a fourth-quarter launch, Leung said. She said Facebook hopes to promote digital advertising, but this will involve the whole industry. Digital ratings can track different Internet providers, including Facebook and other digital media, and provide digital ratings to customers. She said the reason for launching digital ratings is because TV media and digital media cannot be rated according to the same set of standards. She also said that in the past, the focus of the digital market has been conversion rates, but a major part of marketing is how to make more people learn about brands, develop likes and induce purchases.
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
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition