■ Government
China not keen on links: VP
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday that China is not keen on setting up direct transport links with Taiwan and that the approach only forms a part of Beijing's psychological war against Taiwan. The government must take into account national security and social stability while assessing the issue, Lu commented while attending a ground-breaking ceremony for a special innovation and development zone located in the compound of a Tainan technological industrial park in southern Taiwan. Lu also encouraged Taiwan businesses to commit to research and development in the face of the challenges that lie ahead. Meanwhile, completion of the special zone's first construction is slated for the end of next year, by which time 60 hi-tech firms will open up shop there.
■ Charity
YWCA to help children
The YWCA Taipei chapter and the World Peace Prayer Society launched a campaign yesterday to help impoverished children in Malawi, calling for the public's assistance for educational development in the southeastern African country. Wang Kuei-jung (王圭容), wife of Foreign Affairs Minister Eugene Chien, is serving as the honorary chairwoman of the activity, in which the public has been asked to donate stationary and clothes for school children in Malawi, which is a diplomatic ally of Taiwan. Stressing that now is the time for Taiwan to give back to the international community for the assistance it has received in the past, Wang said it is more important to give lasting care to people in poorer countries. Malawian Ambassador to Taiwan Eunice Kazembe expressed her appreciation for the enthusiastic response from the Taiwan public and expressed the hope that school children in her country will be able to enjoy the same level of education as children in Taiwan do.
■ Crime
Former publisher detained
The former publisher of a defunct Kinmen newspaper was detained on the offshore island on Friday night on charges of spying for Beijing. The Kinmen High Court agreed to the prosecutor's request to take into custody Peng Chuei-ping (彭垂濱), who was publisher of the private Kinmen Evening News which was closed in September after running into heavy debt. Peng's wife Chen Hsiou-hsia (陳秀霞) who worked as the newspaper's president and general manager was also questioned by the prosecutor but was released on bail Friday night. According to the prosecutor's investigation, the Pengs are suspected of having over the past four or five years used their press credentials to wander freely around the fortified island to take photos and collect military information for Beijing in exchange for money which they put toward their cash-strapped newspaper.
■ Education
King Car to sponsor teachers
The King Car Education Foundation said yesterday that it will pay the travel costs and visa fees of 12 young American volunteers who will come to Taiwan to teach English for six months next January. The teachers will be selected by the Institute in Basic Life Principles, an US Christian organization. Minister of Education Huang Jung-tsun (黃榮村) said earlier this year that he looked forward to hiring more foreign English teachers for primary schools in remote areas, after restrictions on their recruitment and supervision were lifted. Agencies
‘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
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
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
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