■Defense
Navy sergeant honored
Minister of National Defense Tang Yiau-min (湯曜明) received Huang Huei-fen (黃慧芬) yesterday, the first female sergeant in the navy's explosives disposal unit, and spoke highly of her accomplishments. Huang, 26, has become the first service man or woman to be chosen by the navy to attend the Navy School of Explosive Ordinance Disposal in the US and to pass its rigorous training courses and tests. Tang also presented Huang with a medal, saying that since Huang joined the navy's amphibious combat unit, she has worked very hard and has set a shining example to all service members.
■ Environment
Wharf planned for Pratas
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that it plans to spend NT$140 million to build a wharf in the Pratas Islands in three years to allow large-size cutters and logistics transportation. The Cabinet also agreed in principle to establish an ocean-style national park on the island group. Situated in the South China Sea, the Pratas Islands are about 4,40lkm from the Kaohsiung harbor and 425km from Penghu. The Pratas Islands have a total land area of about 1.7km2 and comprise of four major islands:Peiweitan, Nanweitan and Tongsha. The island group is under the jurisdiction of Kaohsiung City and is a rich fishing ground.
■ Foreign labor
Vietnamese broker jailed
A Vietnamese woman has been jailed for 10 years for running off with US$20,000 in payments from people seeking jobs in Taiwan, court officials said yesterday. The Ho Chi Minh City's People Court found Phan Thi Nen, a 43-year-old employee at the state-run Van Loi Trade and Construction company, guilty last Friday of "appropriating people's property," a court clerk said. Nen pocketed around US$20,000 from 26 people seeking employment in Taiwan last year but then fled with the money after failing to arrange jobs for them, the court heard. She was arrested at the end of last year. More than 300,000 Vietnamese work overseas in 40 countries. Taiwan, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea account for the largest number of Vietnamese guest-workers.
■ Defense
Reserve training to resume
The call-up of military reserve forces, which was suspended in late April due to outbreaks of SARS, will resume Friday, the Ministry of National Defense reported yesterday. Defense ministry spokesman Huang Suey-sheng (黃穗生) said that since SARS no longer threatens the health of the nation, normal reserve-training programs will be reactivated. First to be resumed will include the "Tung Hsin No. 15 Drill" for reservists, originally scheduled to be held in May, as well as reserve troops training programs slated for June and this month, Huang noted. The military has 800,000 to 1 million people serve annually in the reserve.
■ Health
SARS delegation leaves
Deputy Taipei Mayor Ou Chin-der (歐晉德), heading a delegation of municipal officials and councilors, left for a three-leg overseas visit yesterday to study measures to prevent a relapse of SARS. The delegation will visit Hong Kong, Hanoi and Singapore to exchange information with health and medical officials in each city regarding how they dealt with SARS. "We hope to learn from their experiences in SARS prevention and control so that we can come up with a more effective response in the event of a SARS relapse," Ou said.
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
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
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.
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