■Elections
Candidates' rank determined
Draws for polling numbers for mayoral and councilor candidates in the country's top two municipalities were held yesterday in Taipei and Kaohsiung cities. The results determine a candidate's placement on the ballot. In Taipei, Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) drew the No. 2 spot while his DPP rival Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) drew No. 1 after an official from the election committee drew on his behalf. In Kaohsiung, where there are five candidates in the race for the top job at city hall, Shih Ming-teh (施明德), who was absent and had his number drawn by an election commission official, got No. 1, followed in order by Chang Po-ya (張博雅), Huang Tien-sheng (黃天生), Huang Chun-ying (黃俊英) and Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷). As for city council elections, 115 candidates are vying for 52 seats in Taipei City and 114 candidates are fighting for 44 seats in Kaohsiung. The elections will be held Dec 7.
■ Crime
Counterfeiting charges laid
Law-enforcement agents arrested four people yesterday for allegedly counterfeiting NT$1,000 bank notes and seized equipment and bogus currency, a spokesman for the Investigation Bureau under the Ministry of Justice announced. Acting on a tip-off and following a lengthy investigation, prosecutors and investigators raided two locations in northern Taipei and Taoyuan counties where Ho Chin-teh (何金德), Lu Sun-yung (呂森永), Chang Yu-hung (張愈弘) and Feng Ming-cheng (馮明政) were found with 760 counterfeit NT$1,000 notes along with a computer and a color printer. The ring, led by Ho, allegedly sold bogus notes to downstream buyers, at a rate of one to three or one to four, who in turn passed the bills at grocery stores, traditional markets and street stands in central Taichung, Changhua and southern Kaohsiung counties.
■ Diplomacy
Chen offers help to ally
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that Taiwan is willing to help Sao Tome and Principe's fight against malaria. Chen made the remark at the Presidential Office when he received Sao Tome and Principe Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Mateus Meira Rita, who arrived Wednesday for a five-day visit. The president said he was concerned about the nation, which is battling malaria by trying to eradicate mosquitoes. Chen said that Taiwan has already sent experts to the West African country, who have mapped out a mosquito-killing plan they will submit to the local authorities. Rita said Taiwan is the major cooperation partner of Sao Tome and Principe and told Chen that his country appreciates the assistance. Taiwan's aid, he said, is used to fight malaria and provide drinking water to residents.
■ Diplomacy
GIO solicits support
Government Information Office (GIO) Deputy Director-General Frederic Chang (張平男) called Thursday for international support for Taiwan, saying that a hegemonic China has never ceased in its efforts to isolate democratic Taiwan on the world stage. Chang made the remarks during a gathering in Geneva with 20 representatives from the media, academia and government. Stressing that Taiwan, a full-fledged democracy, deserves greater support from the international community, Chang invited foreign friends to pay fact-finding visits to the country. According to the GIO deputy chief, various European parliamentarians showed a high degree of interest in issues related to direct links.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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