■ Cross-Strait Ties
China to hold wargames
China was gearing-up yesterday for large-scale military wargames aimed at "taking control of the Taiwan Strait," with 18,000 troops and the amphibious landing of a tank brigade, state press reported. The exercises were to take place this month and next on Dongshan Island, the New Express Daily said, citing a pro-Beijing Hong Kong newspaper. The soldiers will be deployed from the land, navy and air force of the Nanjing Military Region. "Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jets will be outfitted with KN59M guided air-to-surface missiles in an effort to maintain control over the Taiwan Strait and ensure that tank brigades can make a landing and engage in warfare," the report said. Submarines, war ships and a guided missile brigade would also be involved in the exercises that were to be led by Lieutenant General Huang Jiang, it said.
■ Politics
DOH appointment made
The general manager of the National Health Insurance Bureau, Chang Hong-jen (張鴻仁), is set to take up the No. 2 position in the Department of Health (DOH), DOH head Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said on Monday. Chen revealed Chang's new post on Monday during a farewell party that the DOH had thrown for outgoing deputy director Lee Lung-teng (李龍騰). With Chang's new appointment, Chen is left with two positions to fill in the department. Chang's former position as head of the insurance bureau and the Center for Disease Control director's position remains unfilled. Chang's appointment comes after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lai Ching-te (賴清德) turned down Chen's offer last week.
■ Diplomacy
Scandal no problem: official
Taiwan's ambassador to Costa Rica, Wu Tzu-dan (吳子丹), said Monday that a controversy involving the alleged use of funds donated by Taipei to pay salaries of Costa Rican foreign ministry officials would not harm relations between Taiwan and Costa Rica. Wu told La Nacion newspaper in an interview printed Monday, that he had not requested information from the Costa Rican Foreign Ministry regarding the funds. "Although we are concerned and interested in knowing, we maintain a very respectful attitude towards Costa Rica," Wu said. La Nacion reported recently that Taiwan had given about US$15,000 per month to pay the salaries of 31 foreign ministry staff and US$7,000 to complement the salaries of 13 more ministry officials. According to reports Monday, Taiwan sent about US$4.8 million in the last few years.
■ Crime
Former minister convicted
Former vice education minister Lin Chao-hsien (林昭賢) yesterday was sentenced to 12-years in jail by Taipei District Court for his implication in the Jin-Wen Institute of Technology and the Jin Wen Group corruption scandal. Former education minister Kirby Yang (楊朝祥) was found not guilty because of insufficient evidence. Former minister without portfolio Chang Yu-hui (張有惠) was also not guilty. The Jin Wen scandal (景文案) first made headlines when the group found itself in a severe financial crisis in 2000. Group Chairman Chang Wan-li (張萬利) was accused of embezzling more than NT$920 million from the Jin-Wen Institute of Technology and Lin was suspected of being bribed by Chang and aiding in the embezzlement when Lin served as the director of the Taipei City Government's bureau of education in 1993. Lin said in a press release that he was unwilling to accept the verdict and he will appeal the case.
GREAT POWER COMPETITION: Beijing views its military cooperation with Russia as a means to push back against the joint power of the US and its allies, an expert said A recent Sino-Russian joint air patrol conducted over the waters off Alaska was designed to counter the US military in the Pacific and demonstrated improved interoperability between Beijing’s and Moscow’s forces, a national security expert said. National Defense University associate professor Chen Yu-chen (陳育正) made the comment in an article published on Wednesday on the Web site of the Journal of the Chinese Communist Studies Institute. China and Russia sent four strategic bombers to patrol the waters of the northern Pacific and Bering Strait near Alaska in late June, one month after the two nations sent a combined flotilla of four warships
THE TOUR: Pope Francis has gone on a 12-day visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. He was also invited to Taiwan The government yesterday welcomed Pope Francis to the Asia-Pacific region and said it would continue extending an invitation for him to visit Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the remarks as Pope Francis began a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific on Monday. He is to travel about 33,000km by air to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, and would arrive back in Rome on Friday next week. It would be the longest and most challenging trip of Francis’ 11-year papacy. The 87-year-old has had health issues over the past few years and now uses a wheelchair. The ministry said
‘LEADERS’: The report highlighted C.C. Wei’s management at TSMC, Lisa Su’s decisionmaking at AMD and the ‘rock star’ status of Nvidia’s Huang Time magazine on Thursday announced its list of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence (AI), which included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家), Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) and AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su (蘇姿丰). The list is divided into four categories: Leaders, Innovators, Shapers and Thinkers. Wei and Huang were named in the Leaders category. Other notable figures in the Leaders category included Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Su was listed in the Innovators category. Time highlighted Wei’s
EVERYONE’S ISSUE: Kim said that during a visit to Taiwan, she asked what would happen if China attacked, and was told that the global economy would shut down Taiwan is critical to the global economy, and its defense is a “here and now” issue, US Representative Young Kim said during a roundtable talk on Taiwan-US relations on Friday. Kim, who serves on the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, held a roundtable talk titled “Global Ties, Local Impact: Why Taiwan Matters for California,” at Santiago Canyon College in Orange County, California. “Despite its small size and long distance from us, Taiwan’s cultural and economic importance is felt across our communities,” Kim said during her opening remarks. Stanford University researcher and lecturer Lanhee Chen (陳仁宜), lawyer Lin Ching-chi
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