■ Crime
Officials grab illicit smokes
Coast guard officers seized a large haul of untaxed foreign cigarettes worth around NT$4 million (US$120,845) in waters off Ilan, northeastern Taiwan, early yesterday. Tipped off recently that a smuggling ring would use a fishing vessel and a sampan to try to smuggle untaxed foreign cigarettes into Taiwan, coast guard officers were put on alert. At around 3am yesterday, they spotted a fishing vessel and a sampan loading and unloading goods and ordered them to stop for an inspection. After the cigarettes were found on the two vessels, the fishing ship's captain, surnamed Lin, and the six crew members were all taken back to Suao for further questioning. The seven men were later turned over to the Ilan District Court on charges of violating Taiwan's tobacco and wine regulations.
■ IPR Protection
Swiss laud CIB, CIB says
Taiwan's all-out campaign against commercial piracy and intellectual property rights (IPR) infringement has received increasing world recognition, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) under the National Police Administration (NPA) said yesterday. CIB Deputy Director Wang Wen-chung (王文忠) made the remarks after meeting with a senior executive from the Federation of Swiss Watch Industry (FSWI) earlier in the day. Thierry Dubois, FSWI's Far East manager, paid a courtesy call at the CIB to express his organization's gratitude for Taiwan's efforts in IPR protection and cracking down on commercial piracy. Dubois was quoted as having told Wang that Taiwan has set an example worthy of emulation by other countries in preventing commercial counterfeiting. According to Wang, the NPA has stepped up commercial piracy investigations since 1999 by setting up special operation forces in the northern, central and southern parts of the island. In January last year, the NPA further formed an IPR police corps to intensify probes into IPR infringe-ments. Wang said the amount of seized pirated products last year increased by NT$2.61 billion from the year-earlier level.
■ Diplomacy
MOFA calls Hu's trip trivial
Chinese President Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) recent three-leg African visit did not have any impact on Taiwan's relations with African countries, a senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said yesterday. Chang Pei-chi (張北齊), director of the foreign ministry's African Affairs Department, said at a regular news conference that Hu's visits to Egypt, Gabon and Algeria were mainly aimed at discussing possible cooperative projects in oil exploration. "Hu's African tour has not caused any adverse impact on our relations with African countries that either diplomatically recognize the Taiwan or China," Chang said.
■ Education
Schools offered salmon tour
King Car Education Foundation will sponsor an educational tour for elementary-school students on the ecology of Formosan landlocked salmon on March 29 and March 30 at Wuling Farm in Taichung County. The children will get a first-hand look at the breeding process and the ecological environment for this fish, which is considered a national treasure and an endangered species. More than 3,000 of the salmon have been breed over the past two years. During the tour, the children will also learn about environmental preservation. Elementary schools interested in signing up for the tour can contact the foundation at (02) 2368-0273, ex 111.
‘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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