■ Reagan book signed
Vice Foreign Affairs Minister Michael Kau (高英茂) represented the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in signing a condolences book at the American Cultural Center yesterday in memory of the late US president Ronald Reagan. Representatives of many other countries stationed in Taipei also showed up at the center to sign the book of condolences. The center, located at the International Trade Building on Keelung Road in Taipei, will be open from 8am to 5pm on Monday for those who wish to sign the book. The center will be closed on Tuesday, which the US government has declared a national day of mourning.
■ Education
CIB director gets PhD
Hou You-yi (侯友宜), director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) under the National Police Administration, received a doctoral degree in criminology from Central Police University's Graduate Institute of Criminology yesterday. Hou said he had used his leisure time in the afternoons and evenings over the past five years to complete his doctoral program. Hou's dissertation focused on 42 sensational rape-murder cases reported in Taiwan over the past decades. Hou was among the 685 students who graduated from the university's undergraduate and graduate programs yesterday. President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) attended the school's commencement ceremony for the third year running.
■ International
Taiwan hosts world scouts
More than 8,000 college students from some 80 countries will travel to Taiwan to take part in the 12th World Scout Moot to be held from July 30 to Aug. 10, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Speaking at a regular news conference, Lu Ching-lung (呂慶龍), vice chairman of the foreign ministry's NGO Affairs Committee, said the ministry is assisting the Taiwan Scouts Association in organizing the world scout jamboree.
■ Travel
New Aussie visa services
The Australian Commerce and Industry Office (ACIO) in Taipei completed the refurbishment of its offices yesterday and will upgrade its visa services due to the increasing number of Taiwanese tourists and students visiting Australia. The ACIO issued some 76,000 visas for Taiwan people last year, mainly for tourism and study purposes. Expecting a flood of visa applications this summer, the ACIO will now offer more convenient visa services, which will allow applicants to collect information or apply for visas via the Internet. Those interested can visit the ACIO's Chinese Web site: www.australia.org.tw/visas or the Web site of the Australian government's Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs: www.immi.gov.au.
■ Politics
Lin vows no Paal apology
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Chung-mo (林重謨) yesterday refused to apologize to American Institute in Taiwan Director Douglas Paal for calling him a "vicious dog." "I have only one word for him and that is: Never!" Lin said. Lin made the remark in response to a request filed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Sun Kuo-hua (孫國華) during a morning session at the legislature. Sun said that Lin should apologize for his offensive words and deeds against Paal and proposed that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) lead Lin to see Paal and offer the apology.
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Celebrations marking Double Ten National Day are to begin in Taipei today before culminating in a fireworks display in Yunlin County on the night of Thursday next week. To start the celebrations, a concert is to be held at the Taipei Dome at 4pm today, featuring a lineup of award-winning singers, including Jody Chiang (江蕙), Samingad (紀曉君) and Huang Fei (黃妃), Taipei tourism bureau official Chueh Yu-ling (闕玉玲) told a news conference yesterday. School choirs, including the Pqwasan na Taoshan Choir and Hngzyang na Matui & Nahuy Children’s Choir, and the Ministry of National Defense Symphony Orchestra, flag presentation unit and choirs,
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