The number of arson cases in Taiwan has continued to rise over the last three years, reaching a record high of 1,004 last year, sources from the Ministry of the Interior reported yesterday.
The number of reported arson cases in 1999 climbed to 792 from 670 in 1998, before jumping to 1,004 last year, officials from the ministry's National Fire Administration quoted ministry tallies as indicating.
Fire administration officials noted that while the number of arson cases has been on the rise over the past few years, the number of accidental fires has continued to decline, from 18,254 in 1999 to 15,560 last year.
The officials warned of the increasingly serious implications of the rising number of arson cases, particularly as the number of accidental fires declined by 2,694 over the last two years while the number of arson cases increased by 212.
In the first eight months of this year, according to the tallies, the number of accidental fires was 9,106, compared with 797 reported cases of arson.
Similar records disclosed in August by the fire administration showed that the number of arson cases in the first six months of this year increased by 33.9 percent when compared to the figure for the same period last year.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
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The US House of Representatives yesterday unanimously passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, which aims to disincentivize Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by cutting Chinese leaders and their family members off from the US financial system if Beijing acts against Taiwan. The bipartisan bill, which would also publish the assets of top Chinese leaders, was cosponsored by Republican US Representative French Hill, Democratic US Representative Brad Sherman and seven others. If the US president determines that a threat against Taiwan exists, the bill would require the US Department of the Treasury to report to Congress on funds held by certain members of the
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