■ March election
Parties fight over ads
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) accused each other yesterday of exercising political influence in domestic news media in their election advertisements. The DPP-friendly Formosa TV (FTV) rejected a contracted advertisement for a KMT election campaign commercial, while the KMT-owned Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC,中廣) reportedly turned down an advertising offer from the DPP. The KMT yesterday accused the Presidential Office of masterminding FTV's rejection of the campaign ad, claiming FTV suddenly changed the ad schedule due to political influence. The DPP yesterday dismissed the allegations, saying the party was not capable of influencing the media for political reasons and that the accusation was groundless. Meanwhile, the DPP said yesterday that the BCC was in breach of contract.
■ Lunar New year
Pingtung to hold festival
To welcome the Year of the Monkey, Pingtung, called Monkey City in ancient times, will launch the Kenting Windbell Festival on Jan. 3. The Hengchun Wuliting Airport will open on Jan. 10 and five gifts await the first 3,000 passengers who fly from the airport. The Kenting Windbell Festival will be held for its third year in a bid to boost the windbell industry. From Jan. 3 to Feb. 8 on the 3,000-ping Shia Ti Yi Beach, the festival will feature various performances and exhibitions. Thirteen windbell theme areas await visitors and a discount of 30 percent to 50 percent for five-star hotel accommodations with five tour packages have been offered to passengers flying directly from Taipei to Wuliting Airport. In addition, restaurant coupons offering more than a 40 percent discount and shuttle bus service from Wuliting Airport to Kenting will be offered to visitors.
■ Pets
Residents bark over dog ban
The Pingtung City government's policy forbidding citizens from walking their dogs in parks has triggered controversy on the Internet. The government has long had signs outside the city's parks requesting residents not to walk their dogs in the park. With many citizens ignoring the regulation, the city government decided to publish photos of those breaking the rules in a city government monthly publication, the report said. Though some residents argued on the Internet that dogs should be entitled to enter the parks and the threat to publish citizens' photos was a violation of human rights, Pingtung Mayor Wang Chin-hsih (王進士) was quoted as saying that many citizens walked their pets in the park only for them to defecate. Wang said the city government has no choice but to publish the photos because people keep ignoring the regulations. Although city officials have failed to take any pictures of the rule breakers, policy supporters have offered many photos of dog walkers.
■ Public transit
TRTC prints brochure
The Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC, 台北捷運公司) released a brochure on MRT information yesterday in nine different languages, hoping to provide a more friendly environment for international visitors and foreign workers. The TRTC said the brochure -- in Thai, Malaysian, German, French, Spanish, English, Japanese, Korean and Chinese -- includes a map and time schedule for the MRT. The brochure is small enough to fit in a pocket, the company said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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