■ Crime
US fugitive goes home
American murder suspect William Kimmick was escorted back to the US by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents yesterday. Agents from Guam and Kimmick took a late night Continental Airlines flight yesterday and will directly return to Vermont to close the case. Kimmick, an electronic technician and a Vermont native, fled to Taiwan on Jan. 25. The Vermont State Court announced that he was wanted for questioning in connection with the murder of his wife at his residence on Jan. 20. Accompanied by an American friend who is living in Taiwan, Kimmick turned himself in to the Hengchun Police Precinct on Feb. 8.
■ Health
Taipei lifts SARS measures
Taipei City Government's Health Bureau yesterday lifted the temperature-taking measure and mask requirements for entering municipal hospitals and organizations belonging to the city government. Since the Center for Disease Control (CDC) announced it was reducing the SARS warning to zero, SARS prevention measures could be lifted according to the CDC's regulations, bureau official Chiu Chan-hsien (邱展賢) said. But Chiu suggested that people who have fever should still wear a mask when seeing a doctor because it is flu season. However, Chiu said that although the vigilance level against SARS is lower, the public must remain on guard against avian influenza. Chiu said that the bureau was happy that the flu outbreak expected after the Lunar New Year failed to materialize, but added that because of the threat of avian flu, it will continue to ask those who work in schools, hospices and hospitals to monitor their temperatures daily.
■ Crime
Police catch dognappers
Eleven dogs of popular breeds were "kidnapped" yesterday while their owner was forced to pay a ransom of NT$271,000, but the police successfully rescued the dogs and arrested the suspects. According to the police, the victim, Kuo Chi-chiang (郭志強), owned a dog kennel in Taoyuan. A 37-year-old suspect, Lu Hung-yi (呂泓毅), and a 44-year-old suspect, Chien Hsin-yi (簡新億), realized that Kuo had several expensive breeds, so they decided to extort money from him. Lu called Kuo and said that he was working for SET-TV and would like to invite him and his dogs to a TV show. However, he needed Kuo to show him his dogs first. Lu arranged to meet Kuo at a restaurant in Taoyuan. Kuo left a golden retriever, a schnauzer and nine dachshunds in his car while he went to meet Lu at the restaurant. However, Chien stole his car, along with the 11 dogs while Kuo was away. To get his dogs back, Kuo ended up paying Lu and Chien NT$271,000 but he didn't get his dogs back until the police arrested the suspects and rescued his dogs yesterday.
■ Crime
Officials seize drugs
Customs officers reported yesterday that a large amount of contraband Chinese medicine had been seized a day earlier at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport's cargo terminal. The contraband included balms, anti-impotence pills, powdered heart-disease medicine and herbal extracts, packed in 11 boxes. Customs officers said that although the medicine could be obtained easily in China, they were banned from entering Taiwan because none of it had passed Department of Health tests. Much of the haul is expensive on the Chinese market, the customs officers said, adding that the total seizures were worth an estimated NT$10 million.
‘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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
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