■ Politics
Beijing denies Chu in China
China's Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Zhang Mingqing (莊銘清) said yesterday that former Kaohsiung city council speaker Chu An-hsiung (朱安雄) is not hiding in China. Chu disappeared earlier this month just days before he was to begin serving a 22-month prison term for vote buying. Local media reports have said that Chu had been recently spotted in Zhuhai, southern China. In Beijing, Zhang told reporters that the reports were wrong. ``Chu An-hsiung absolutely isn't on mainland China,'' Zhang said. Chu was convicted of bribing voters in last December's city council elections. He still faces trial for allegedly buying votes from his colleagues on the city council before his election as council speaker.
■ Society
Foreigner crime on the rise
The number of offenses involving foreigners has been rising steadily in Taipei, city officials said yesterday. According to Taipei City Government tallies, the annual number of offenses involving foreign nationals increased from 693 cases in 2000 to 899 last year. In the first nine months of this year, a total of 779 offenses involving foreigners were reported, up 24.64 percent from the same period of last year. As of the end of last month, Taipei had 71,608 expatriates, a 11.72 percent decrease from the number recorded at the end of last year. Among them, 77 percent had residence status and the remaining 23 percent were visitors. Expatriates accounted for 2.73 percent of the city's total population. Meanwhile, officials said 1,236 foreign nationals were found to have either illegally taken jobs in Taipei or overstayed their visas between January and last month. During the same nine-month period, 1,264 foreigners were repatriated or ordered to leave the country because they had illegally taken jobs or overstayed their visas.
■ Labor
Rail union votes for strike
The Taiwan Railway Labor Union (TRLU) yesterday held a member's conference to vote on a plan to strike over the Lunar New Year holiday and to select a new president. Union spokesman Chen Wei (陳偉) announced that Chen Han-ching (陳漢卿), known to be more militant and aggressive than the group's former president, had been promoted from secretary general to president. The members also voted in a plan of action for the strike. Chen Wei said that the strike will have two stages. The first stage will be a series of small strikes in select stations and departments before the holiday and be aimed at putting pressure on the government.
■ Charities
Help sought for Vietnamese
The Taiwanese charity group Compassion International (CITW, 中華至善社會服務協會) is urging the public to donate money for a medical program it runs in Vietnam. The charity has been funding medical treatment for poor disabled children in central Vietnam since 2001. It said that many Vietnamese suffer health problems attributed to Agent Orange, a defoliant used by the US military during the Vietnam War, and blamed for an unusually high ratio of birth defects. During the past three years, CITW has helped over 600 children receive surgery in Vietnamese hospitals and covered expenses for those with more serious disabilities who were sent to Taiwan for treatment. CITW is now hoping to get 600 people to donate NT$600 a month for the program for the next year. More information is available by calling 02-23560118 or visit the group's Chinese-language Web site (http://www.citw.org.tw).
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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