■ Air safety
Singapore pilots to fly again
Singapore's aviation authority will reinstate the licenses of three pilots involved in a deadly crash at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport nearly two years ago, after they complete a performance review, it said yesterday. The three Singapore Airlines pilots "did not contravene any regulation or operational procedures that would require or justify the continued suspension of their licenses," the Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement. Captain Foong Chee Kong, Cyrano Latiff, and Ng Kheng Lang will again be able to fly commercial planes after they undergo a "rigorous program" of medical and psychological tests as well as flight retraining, the statement said. The Oct. 31, 2000, crash killed 83 people.
■ Diplomacy
Taiwan named in funding row
A Costa Rican opposition party asked President Abel Pacheco on Monday about allegations that Taiwan contributed funds to his 2001 election campaign, which would be illegal under the country's Constitution. The Citizens' Action Party asked Pacheco to detail all "economic donations to his campaign both from national business leaders and foreign companies, some of which may be linked to governments of other countries." In a letter to Pacheco, Deputy Humberto Arce said he had "been amazed to hear" claims made public by close former collaborators of Pacheco, that they had heard campaign organizers inquiring over the arrival of funds from Taiwan. Arce also said Pacheco received more than a million dollars in his electoral campaign, which he won in the second round on Apr. 7, having narrowly missed outright victory in February.
■ Politics
KMT submits finance bill
The KMT legislative caucus yesterday introduced its own version of a proposed agriculture finance law that calls for a bigger share of public capitalization in creating a national agriculture bank. The KMT bill also proposes that the credit departments of the farmers' and fishermen's associations run the envisioned bank, an idea that stands in stark contrast with the Cabinet's reform plan for these groups. Under the KMT bill, a national agriculture bank would hold a minimum capitalization of NT$20 billion, with the government contributing a 49 percent share as opposed to the 20 percent stake suggested in the Cabinet's proposal. To that end, the KMT prefers to make existing credit departments of the public farmers' and fishermen's associations de facto executives of the proposed national agriculture bank. The Cabinet has suggested shutting down the troubled cooperatives, skeptical of their professionalism and entrenched ties with local factions.
■ Cross-strait ties
KMT group in Beijing
A group of KMT politicians in Beijing for a seminar on cross-strait relations said yesterday they were trying to tap China's attitude on direct links and the needs of China-based Taiwanese business-people. The KMT guests, including Yao Eng-chi (饒穎奇), former deputy president of the Legislative Yuan, Chang Jung-kung (張榮恭), director of the KMT Department of Mainland Affairs, and KMT Legislators Chu Feng-chih (朱鳳芝), Chen Chien-min (陳健民) and Hung Chao-nan (洪昭南), met with academics and members of the Beijing-based Chinese Culture Development Association for a discussion dubbed "Seminar on Cross-Strait Relations in the New Era." The KMT mission arrived in Beijing last Saturday. They plan to proceed to Shanghai before returning to Taipei.
Staff writer, with agencies
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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