■ Crime
Man shoots KTV patron
A drunken man fired a shot at the wall in a Taipei KTV yesterday, killing a man singing with friends in the next room, Chinese-language media reported. A 21-year-old man, Tseng Poh-yi (曾柏義), was arrested over the shooting and was being interrogated by prosecutors, the report said. Tseng had been singing with friends at the KTV overnight and after a few drinks took out his pistol and fired two shots at the ceiling and another shot at the wall, the report said. One of the shots hit another man in the chest as he sat against the wall in the next room, the report said. It said the victim, identified by his surname, Cho, was rushed to a hospital but later died.
■ Politics
Debate figures released
More than 4.5 million people watched the first debate between the two presidential candidates, according to a survey by a television rating service company. The Radio and Television Broadcasters found that 7.28 percent of households with TV sets tuned in to the debate on Saturday, or about twice the number of households normally watching TV at that time of day. The survey also estimated that about 1.9 million of those who watched the program were "deep viewers," meaning they were tuned in to the program for more than 45 minutes. The survey indicated that males aged 50 and above made up the largest portion of viewers at 16.47 percent of the total number who watched the debate, while people in their 20s made up the smallest portion.
■ Election
Kinmen expected to go green
Vice Minister of the Interior Hsu Ying-shen (許應深) said at a ceremony marking the launch of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) Kinmen campaign headquarters yesterday that the president should be able to garner at least 10,000 votes in Kinmen in the upcoming election. Speaking at the ceremony at Peichang Temple marking the launch of the campaign headquarters, Hsu said that as Chen's administration has bolstered the island's infrastructure development by increasing budget allocations annually over the past four years, the president should be able to get at least 10,000 votes in the March 20 election. Chen garnered only 759 votes in Kinmen in the 2000 election. The number of eligible voters on Kinmen stands at about 45,000. Chen Chang-chiang (陳滄江), the president's deputy campaign manager in Kinmen, said Chen Shui-bian is up against "four parties," namely the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), the People First Party, the New Party and the Chinese Communist Party.
■ Cross-Strait Ties
China wants name change
Beijing has pushed for a change in Taiwan's formal designation in the Paris-based Office International des Epizooties (OIE) in an apparent attempt to suppress Taiwan politically in the international community. Under pressure from Beijing, the world organization for animal health, known by its French acronym OIE, called for Taiwan recently to accept "certain conditions" that are conducive to facilitating China's "efficient" participation in OIE activities. One of the conditions stated was that Taiwan change its formal name as a full member in the OIE from the current "Taipei China" to "The Separate Quarantine Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu." The OIE passed a resolution in its assembly of international members committees late last year calling for Taiwan to accept conditions that are conducive to facilitating China's "efficient" participation in OIE activities.
‘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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