■Japan
Koizumi lawsuit filed
More than 200 Taiwanese filed a lawsuit yesterday against the Japanese govern-ment and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi over his visits to Tokyo's contro-versial Yasukuni Shrine, a lawyer involved in the case announced. The suit was filed by 236 people, mainly relatives of Taiwanese who died in World War II, at the Osaka District Court. The suit demanded a total of Japanese Yen 2.36 million (US$19,700) in damages, or Japanese Yen 10,000 (US$83) per plaintiff in compensa-tion, saying Koizumi's visit to the shine violates Japan's Constitution, the lawyer said. On Jan. 14, Koizumi visited the shrine, which honors the 2.47 million Japanese who died in wars since 1869, including 14 Class-A war criminals. It was Koizumi's third visit to the shrine since he became prime minister two years ago. The lawyer said the plaintiffs suffered psycho-logical damage from Koi-zumi's visits to the shrine.
■ Environment
Cherry trees for Taiwan
A private Japanese group dedicated to promoting sakura (Japanese cherry blossom) plantation around the world has begun helping to grow more sakura trees around Taiwan, the Sankei Shumbun reported yester-day. The non-profit Ikuohkai (Japanese Sakura Cultiva-tion Society) sent 200 sakura seedlings to Taipei over the weekend, preparing for a presentation ceremony to be held today at the Ambas-sador Hotel, the report said. Ikuohkai president Tenkoko Sonoda will present the seedlings at the ceremony to former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) who will accept them on behalf of the Tai-wanese. The root of the idea of helping Taiwan grow sakura formed months ago when Tokyo socialite Kiyoko Ichimora visited Taiwan to learn Peking opera and found that many Taiwanese like the trees. Ichimora talked Sonoda into making the donation and the Ikuoh-kai decided to help grow at least 10,000 sakura trees, including a plantation near Sun Moon Lake, over the next several years, the paper reported. The first 200 seedlings will be planted at National Taiwan University's Agricultural and Forest Research Institute and later transplanted to Yangming-shan and in Hsinchu.
■ Diplomacy
Panamanian envoy in Taipei
Ambassador Ramel Adames, Panama's representative to the WTO, arrived in Taipei yesterday for a five-day visit. During the visit, Adames will call on Legislative Yuan Vice Speaker Chiang Ping-kun (江丙坤), Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kau Ying-mao (高英茂) and attend a luncheon hosted by Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Hwang (黃瀧元). He will also visit the National Palace Museum, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, the Hsinchu Science-based Industrial Park and other places before departing on Friday.
■ Travel
New law affects visitors
Travelers to Russia should carry their immigration cards with them at all times in case of police checks, said a press release issued by the Ministry of Economic Affairs's Board of Foreign Trade yesterday. Visitors who fail to abide by the new regulation will be fined between US$70 and US$140 and could even be deported. The regulation was enacted to stem illegal immigrants from countries of the former Soviet Union because most of their nationals can enter Russia without applying for visas. Foreigners with or without visas are required to fill in immigration cards, which can now can be obtained at all Russian customs offices.
■Cross-strait ties
Illegal migrants nabbed
Twenty-three Chinese were caught at a small fishing port in Taipei County early yesterday, the Coast Guard Administration reported. Working on a tip-off, coast guard members lay in wait for two days at the Huangkang port before nabbing the 23 Chinese at around 2am yesterday in a van that had been awaiting them. Fifteen of the group were young women and dressed in revealing outfits, leading authorities to believe that they were going to work in the sex trade. The Coast Guard discovered that the Chinese were originally to be "delivered" in the small hours of Saturday to Huangkang. However, the skipper of the vessel transporting the Chinese did not make the delivery after he spotted police and undercover personnel at the port.
■ Politics
PFP calls for alliance
Members of the PFP caucus called on their KMT counterparts yesterday to discuss cooperation in the legislature. PFP party whips Chung Shao-ho (鍾紹和), Chiu Yi (邱毅), Chin Huei-chu (秦慧珠) and Cheng Chin-ling (鄭金玲) called on the KMT's Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) and party whip Liu Cheng-hung (劉政鴻) to discuss a cooperation mechanism. Chung suggested that the two parties could consider jointly holding caucus meeting on major issues if necessary so that the cooperation will be closer. Chiu said that members of the caucus of the two parties should communicate regularly each week and jointly hold caucus meetings so that their members can communicate with each other and be consistent in their stance. "The people are watching if the PFP-KMT can cooperate and if the two parties can cooperate in the legislature, then the people will have confidence in such cooperation," Chiu added.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
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