■ Politics
Lawmaker convicted of libel
The Taipei District Court yesterday found People First Party (PFP) Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) guilty of libeling a government official and sentenced him to 30 days detention or a fine of NT$27,000. In March, Fu called then Government Information Office director general Arthur Iap (葉國興) "a dog unleashed by [President] Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to bite people." He made the remark in a press conference as he criticized Iap over a translation error in a Central News Agency's report which implicated PFP Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) in the Lafayette frigate scandal. The court ruled that, since Fu made the statement in the PFP's press conference room in the legislature, he was not protected by legislators' immunity of speech privilege. Fu said he will appeal the verdict.
■ Education
Book drive launched
BenQ Corp and China Airlines, along with other local companies, are sponsoring a drive to collect English-language children's books for schools in remote areas. They are urging expatriates and Taiwanese to donate books before Dec. 31. Books can be sent to the offices of the United Daily News at 555 Chunghsiao E. Road or branches of the Taipei Fifi Bookstore in Taipei, Yilan, Taoyuan, Taichung and Kaohsiung.
■ Crime
Police crack `rape pill' ring
Police raided an apartment in a high-rise building in Kaohsiung on Wednesday night, seizing 18kg of Ketamine and arresting five individuals. A police officer said that, according to preliminary investigations, two of the suspects manufactured Ketamine, a sedative drug known as "rape pills," in the apartment for two of the other suspects to sell in pubs. The materials they used to manufacture the drug were allegedly supplied by the fifth suspect. The officer said evidence shows that the suspects have sold an unknown quantity of the drug.
■ Education
Vocational schools backed
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) promised yesterday that his administration will not phase out vocational high schools. He said students should have a wider range of options in the nation's diversified and pluralistic society. Chen made the remarks at the opening of a two-day national conference in Taichung for the heads of vocational high schools. Chen said the government will devote more energy and resources to develop vocational education facilities instead of abolishing them. The government should build a good environment in which children and youth should be provided with more options and channels to develop their interests, potential and dispositions, he said.
■ Language
Chen urges diversity
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that the establishment of official languages should be based on the respect for differences among ethnic groups and cultures, and should transcend stereotypes and political ideologies. He made the remarks in an essay on his Web site on the beauty and diversity of Taiwan's languages. Chen said he speaks Hakka and Aboriginal languages on occasion and even though he is far from fluent, it helps to "bridge the gap between him and his audiences." He said there are 29 languages spoken in Taiwan, including Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese), Mandarin, Hakka and more than a dozen Aboriginal languages.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
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