CRIME
Murder suspect returns
An Israeli-American man suspected to be involved in the murder last month of a Canadian resident of New Taipei City arrived in Taipei yesterday from Manila, escorted by four Taiwanese police officers. After arriving at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Oren Mayer was taken to the Criminal Investigation Bureau for questioning before being referred to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for further investigation. The 37-year-old Mayer, and Ewart Bent, a 30-year-old American, are suspected of killing Ryan Sanjay Ramgahan and dismembering his body. Ramgahan’s remains were discovered on Aug. 22 under the Zhongzheng Bridge in Yonghe District (永和). Philippine police have said that Mayer, who left Taiwan after the murder, was arrested on Sept. 5 in an apartment in Cainta on Luzon island following a tipoff from Taiwanese police.
DIPLOMACY
PILP course opens in Taipei
The Taiwan leg of the annual Pacific Islands Leadership Program (PILP) opened yesterday in Taipei, as 22 participants began a six-week training session to sharpen their leadership skills by learning from Taiwanese experts in various fields. This year’s program began on Aug. 20 at the East-West Center’s campus in Hawaii with a one-month course on experiential learning exercises. The Taipei segment is being held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ (MOFA) Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs. Now in its sixth year, the project has trained a total of 122 people from 15 nations in the Pacific region. Addressing yesterday’s opening ceremony, American Institute in Taiwan Deputy Director Raymond Greene said Taiwan is the best partner for providing invaluable opportunities for citizens of the Pacific nations to enhance their leadership capabilities. Taiwan is the regional leader in economic, environmental, healthcare and social benchmarks, he said.
DIPLOMACY
Donations followed the law
MOFA yesterday said the donations the government made to El Salvador were paid in accordance with the law, amid questions raised by prosecutors in that nation who allege that part of the money was used by the former ruling party for campaign purposes. Prosecutor Douglas Melendez on Thursday said that he was investigating the alleged diversion of US$10 million in funds donated by Taiwan and purportedly used to pay for campaigning. All cooperation between Taiwan and its former ally was conducted in accordance with the law, ministry spokesperson Andrew Lee (李憲章) said. The government carefully screened all assistance proposals made by the Salvadorean government and donations were made in public with detailed records of where the funding was to be used, he said.
WEATHER
Sunshine expected: CWB
The weather is to remain sunny nationwide until Saturday, when northeasterly winds are to build up, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) forecast yesterday. Stable weather will continue through Friday, forecaster Kuan Hsin-ping (官欣平) said. However, there could still be afternoon showers in mountainous areas of northern Taiwan and adjacent locations, he said. Mountainous and plains areas in central and southern Taiwan can also expect afternoon showers, though the rain will last longer than in the north, Kuan said. Starting Saturday, the windward side of areas in northern Taiwan could see sporadic showers, Kuan said.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
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
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
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai