ELECTIONS
By-elections date changed
Legislative by-elections for seats vacated in Taipei and Taichung following the Nov. 24 nine-in-one elections are to be held on Jan. 27, the Central Election Commission announced yesterday. The commission on Friday last week said that the by-elections would be held on Jan. 26. When lawmakers on Monday suggested shifting the date, as it would coincide with the annual General Scholastic Ability Test, which determines entrance to the nation’s universities, the commission at the time said that the date could not be changed. However, it changed the date following an internal meeting yesterday. The by-elections are to fill seats representing a district in Taipei previously held by the Democratic Progressive Party’s Pasuya Yao (姚文智) and in Taichung held by the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕).
CRIME
Former lawmaker a fugitive
Former KMT legislator Lee Ching-hua (李慶華) was on Friday last week declared a wanted person by the New Taipei City District Court for his failure to appear in court. The wanted notice is valid until April 1, 2041. Lee was in September indicted on charges of contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), for which he could be sentenced to seven years in prison, and of forgery under the Criminal Code. Prosecutors have accused Lee of embezzling NT$5.32 million (US$173,262) to pay NT$100,000 in alimony to his ex-wife and personal travel fees by applying for assistant fees using dummy accounts.
CULTURE
Calendar promotes military
Renowned album cover designer and four-time Grammy Award nominee Xiao Qing-yang (蕭青陽) has designed the Ministry of National Defense’s calendar for next year, the ministry said in a statement yesterday promoting the product. Titled Around-the-Clock: Defending Our Country, the calendar was designed with the aim of encouraging Taiwanese to show greater support for those serving in the military who stand on guard around the clock, the ministry said, adding that it is the first to include English-language captions for photographs. A total of 5,000 calendars are to be distributed to military units nationwide. It can also be bought at the Taipei-based military-run Youth Daily News.
DIPLOMACY
Su to attend Bush funeral
Legislative Speaker Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) yesterday left for the US to attend the state funeral of former US president George H.W. Bush. Bush, who died on Friday last week aged 94, is to lie in state at the US Capitol before a state funeral is held at Washington National Cathedral today. US President Donald Trump was also scheduled to attend the service.
CRIME
Three arrested in drug bust
Three men have been arrested and held incommunicado in connection with the discovery of 322.97kg of ketamine, the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office said on Monday. The men were on Nov. 20 apprehended during a stakeout in Taoyuan when they picked up the class-three drugs, which were smuggled into the nation in a container from Shenzhen, China, the office said in a statement. Authorities also confiscated 14 smartphones, an air pistol, an additional 90g of ketamine, a BMW sports car, five expensive watches and other items, as well as NT$2 million, 4,100 yuan (US$600) and HK$45,000 (US$5,766) in cash, it added.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
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