CRIME
Customs seizes cigarettes
Kaohsiung Customs yesterday seized 1.35 million packs of cigarettes worth an estimated NT$60 million (US$2.03 million) that were being smuggled into the nation. Customs officials tracked three containers that arrived from Vietnam and were to be re-exported to the Philippines, Kaohsiung Customs Director Chen Shan-ju (陳善助) said. After locating them in the port, officials inspected the containers and found the cigarettes, he said, adding that they arrived with documents identifying their contents as textiles. The cigarettes have been seized in accordance with the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act (菸酒管理法) and the Customs Anti-Smuggling Act (海關緝私條例), Chen said, adding that police are investigating the people involved.
WEATHER
Temperatures to fall again
Temperatures across the nation continued to rise yesterday with the weakening of a continental cold air mass, the Central Weather Bureau said. Continuing Monday’s trend, daytime temperatures yesterday rose to between 22°C and 24°C in the north, between 25°C and 26°C in central and southern Taiwan, and 20°C and 23°C in the east, bureau forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. Meanwhile, a tropical depression near the Philippines could develop into this year’s first tropical storm as early as last night, he said. Although the potential storm, named Bolaven, should not directly affect Taiwan as it moves toward the South China Sea, it could bring moisture to the nation tomorrow, the bureau said. Northeasterly winds tomorrow are also expected to bring wet, chilly weather to the nation, with lows of 16°C expected in northern Taiwan.
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