The Ministry of the Interior (
After conducting an overall review of the blacklist of 659 foreigners banned from entering the country, the ministry decided that if Kobayashi applies for a visa, he may enter Taiwan.
Chien Tai-lang (
Likewise, the two other foreigners who were originally blacklisted under Article 17 of the Immigration Law (入出國及移民法) may also enter.
The ministry barred the controversial cartoonist from Tai-wan earlier this month, saying that statements made in his best-selling comic book On Taiwan (
In the comic, Kobayashi claimed that Taiwanese women were not forced into sexual slavery during World War II but instead volunteered to work as "comfort women" (
He also interviewed and quoted some Taiwanese business and political leaders known to be sympathetic to Japan, such as former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and the presidential advisor Shi Wen-lung (許文龍).
The comic book enraged many people in Taiwan. Law-makers and women's groups have urged bookstores not to sell it, but it has become a best-seller.
After the interior ministry announced its ban on Kobayashi, it was criticized by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who stressed that as a democracy Taiwan should not block visitors.
Chen said that if Taiwan did so, it would be no different from China.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
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