■ Politics
Lu warns Beijing on games
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday if Chinese leaders don't learn to control rowdy sports fans, athletes will feel threatened when they go to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics. Lu said it was regrettable that soccer fans rioted in Beijing after Japan beat China 3-1 on Saturday in the Asian Cup final. She said in a briefing with foreign reporters that Chinese leaders must learn to control angry mobs before the 2008 games. "Otherwise, athletes who are able to defeat China's athletes will feel threatened. This would be a serious problem," she said. Lu added that she hoped that the Olympics will benefit China.
■ Travel
Penghu-Macau flight set
The maiden international charter flight from Penghu will take off today for Macau, with all seats fully booked, a TransAsia Airways spokesman said yesterday. The round-trip flight will make Makung Airport the first airport on an outlying island that can host international charter flights. The airport will also then become the nation's fifth international airport. The Civil Aeronautic Administration (CAA) approved TransAsia Airways' application for operating three round-trip charter flights between Penghu and Macau this month. The airline spokesman said the inauguration of charter flight services will benefit Penghu residents intending to visit Macau or to travel to China because the direct flight takes only one hour.
■ Foreign Affairs
Errant diplomat suspended
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday officially suspended diplomat Chang Jia-hua (張家華) from his duties for inadvertently issuing a passport and other documents to Yeh Hsiu-chen (葉秀貞), the wife of fugitive murder suspect Andrew Wang (汪傳浦) last month. Meanwhile, the involvement of Lily Hsu (徐儷文), a diplomat at the UK representative office, will be further investigated by the Control Yuan. However, newly resigned Taiwan representative to the UK, Tien Hung-mao (田弘茂), was not on the list of administrative punishment released by MOFA yesterday. Wang, an arms dealer suspected of involvement in the corruption-tainted sale of the Lafayette-class frigates to Taipei in the 1990s, is wanted in connection with the death of navy Captain Yin Ching-feng (尹清楓).
■ Health
Association warns of fraud
Some foreign workers have taken advantage of loopholes in the National Health Insurance system by selling medicines that were paid for by their insurance here, wasting medical resources, a private medical group alleged yesterday. Some retired people have also given away their medicines to their relatives and friends in China, according to Wu Ming-yen, secretary-general of the Non-governmental Hospital and Clinics Association. The National Health Insurance spends about NT$94 billion (US$2.76 billion) annually on medicines, but a large part of this is believed to go to waste. Wu said that some retired people, especially those residing in China, give away their medicines to relatives and friends in China.. Wu said he suspects some patients may fail to treat their illnesses and then seek medical treatment in China and claim reimbursements from the National Health Insurance.
‘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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