■The Philippines
Typhoon aids escape
High waves whipped up by a typhoon helped 15 Taiwanese fishermen escape from a Philippine port where they had been detained for months for violating territorial boundaries, officials said yesterday. Typhoon Imbudo, which hit the northern Philippine island of Luzon last week, made the sea there so rough that ropes securing the four boats in the port of Aparri snapped just before dawn on Friday, and the vessels were swept out into the open sea, government officials said. The boats and their crews had been detained by the Philippine navy -- one in May this year and three in May last year -- for allegedly fishing illegally in Philippines waters. Some 17 Chinese and Indonesian sailors who had also been detained on the Taiwanese vessels arrived in Tungkang port in southern Taiwan on Saturday with the Taiwanese crews, the officials said.
■ Employment
Sanitation work attracts 234
Due to economic sluggishness, engineers and owners of small- and medium-sized enterprises were among candidates competing for 28 openings offered by the Taipei County Government yesterday in its public sanitation department. Many of the other candidates were college graduates seeking their first jobs. The 234 hopefuls sprinted down a running track carrying heavy sandbags on their backs, trying their utmost to cross the finishing line ahead of their opponents. With each male runner carrying a 40kg sandbag and the women carrying 20kg, the racers competed in a 30m dash competition to prove they were physically qualified to work as street cleaners and garbage collectors. Some runners managed to finish, but many stumbled and fell, either out of nervousness or because the weight was too much for them.
■ Liberia
Ambassador leaves Taiwan
Taiwan Ambassador to Liberia Chen Yeo-chio (陳永綽) left for Ivory Coast yesterday after a home consultation visit. Chen said prior to his departure that he and the other embassy staff will return to the strife-torn Liberian capital of Monrovia from Ivory Coast once an interim government has been installed in the West African state. Chen, along with the other embassy staffers, took shelter in Ivory Coast early this month because of escalating violence in Monrovia. He returned to Taipei from Ivory Coast last Monday for his first home consultation since Liberia lapsed into a civil war two months ago. His residence in the outskirts of Monrovia was looted by rebel forces in his absence and during his stay in Taipei.
■ United States
Alliance establishes branch
The Global Alliance for Democracy and Peace established a branch in Austin, Texas on Saturday. Deputy Minister Liao Sheng-hsiung (廖勝雄) of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, Deputy Representative C. H. Lee (李辰雄) of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US, and many overseas Chinese leaders attended the inauguration ceremony. The Austin branch of the alliance issued a statement expressing the hope that Taiwan's achievements in promoting democracy will become a catalyst for democratization in China. It said that only when democracy and peace prevail in China can peace and stability be maintained in the Taiwan Strait region on a long term basis.
Agencies
Organizing one national referendum and 26 recall elections targeting Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators could cost NT$1.62 billion (US$55.38 million), the Central Election Commission said yesterday. The cost of each recall vote ranges from NT$16 million to NT$20 million, while that of a national referendum is NT$1.1 billion, the commission said. Based on the higher estimate of NT$20 million per recall vote, if all 26 confirmed recall votes against KMT legislators are taken into consideration, along with the national referendum on restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, the total could be as much as NT$1.62 billion, it said. The commission previously announced
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte’s remarks that the organization’s cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners must be deepened to deter potential threats from China and Russia. Rutte on Wednesday in Berlin met German Chancellor Friedrich Merz ahead of a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of Germany’s accession to NATO. He told a post-meeting news conference that China is rapidly building up its armed forces, and the number of vessels in its navy outnumbers those of the US Navy. “They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They now have 1,000 nuclear warheads,” Rutte said, adding that such
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The cosponsors of a new US sanctions package targeting Russia on Thursday briefed European allies and Ukraine on the legislation and said the legislation would also have a deterrent effect on China and curb its ambitions regarding Taiwan. The bill backed by US senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal calls for a 500 percent tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations such as China and India, which account for about 70 percent of Russia’s energy trade, the bankroll of much of its war effort. Graham and Blumenthal told The Associated Press
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