■ Administration
GIO promotes consultant
William Yi (易榮宗), a consultant to the Government Information Office (GIO), will be promoted to the agency's second-highest post, GIO Director-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said in New York on Sunday. Lin and Yi are on a three-day transit stop in New York on their way back to Taipei after accompanying Premier Yu Shyi-kun on his second overseas trip since assuming the premiership in February 2002. Lin told reporters covering Yu's diplomatic tour that he has asked Yi to serve as his deputy. Lin said Yi, who served as the information division chief at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in New York before becoming a GIO consultant, will be responsible for international publicity affairs after being promoted to GIO deputy director-general. Yi will fill the position left vacant by Hung Chung-chuan (洪瓊娟), who retired last month.
■ Paraguay
Housing complex set to open
A new Taiwan-funded public housing complex for low-income families in the Paraguayan capital will be inaugurated tomorrow, the Taiwan Embassy in Paraguay said on Sunday. The new complex in Asuncion's Ciudad Nueva district has 120 housing units, an embassy staffer said. Each apartment has a bathroom, a living room and two bedrooms, as well as running water and electricity. This will be the third Taiwan-funded public housing complex for low-income Paraguayan people. The first two complexes are located in the Luque and Nemby. Paraguayan President Nicanor Duarte and Taiwan's ambassador to Paraguay Yen Pin-fan (顏秉璠) will jointly preside over the inauguration ceremony for the Ciudad Nueva housing complex tomorrow. Construction of housing complexes for low-income families with Taiwanese funds was one of Duarte's presidential campaign promises.
■ Culture
Martyrs' Shrine completed
Officials celebrated the completion of the reconstruction of Kinmen's Tai Wu Shan Martyrs' Shrine yesterday as part of commemorations of the Battle of the Taiwan Strait 46 years ago. More than 500 politicians, military officers, veterans and civilians attended the ceremony at the shrine, where soldiers who died in the battle are remembered. A memorial service for the soldiers was held after the ceremony. Addressing the ceremony, Fujian Provincial Governor Yen Chung-cheng (顏忠誠) attributed the nation's economic prosperity over the past 46 years to the sacrifice of the soldiers who risked their lives to defend the country from attacks by the Chinese Communists. The Battle of the Taiwan Strait began on Aug. 23, 1958, and lasted for 44 days.
■ Taiwan Fair
Headquarters inaugurated
The headquarters for the preparation of the 2008 Taiwan Fair was officially inaugurated yesterday at the county hall in Tainan, which was chosen to host the international event. During the inauguration ceremony, Tainan County Magistrate Su Huan-chih (蘇貞昌) showed how the county will work to make the event a success. The headquarters will be the base for several teams responsible for planning, transportation, construction and publicity. Su said that the first Taiwan Fair was held in 1935 at the site which is the currently the 228 Peace Memorial Park in Taipei. The Taiwan Fair has not been held since. Su said that hotel space for the 2008 event could be a problem, given that an estimated 5 million visitors are expected to attend the fair.
■ Foreign Affairs
Singapore protest urged
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Lin Jhih-long (林志隆) urged local people not to visit Singapore or buy its products yesterday as a protest against unfriendly remarks by its leader concerning Taiwan. According to foreign wire services, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) said, "if a war breaks out across the strait, we will be forced to choose between the two sides ... but if the conflict is provoked by Taiwan, then Singapore cannot support Taiwan." Lee also said that Singapore will not recognize Taiwan if it declares independence. Lee's remarks are unfriendly toward Taiwan and have repressed the island's development space in the world community, Lin said.
■ Crime
Warrant issued for Chang
District prosecutors in Yunlin County issued a warrant for the arrest of Yunlin County Commissioner Chang Jung-wei (張榮味) yesterday after he ignored two subpoenas summoning him to report to prosecutors to assist with an investigation into alleged corruption. Hung Shao-wen (洪紹文), chief prosecutor at the Yunlin District Prosecutors' Office, said Chang will be put on the wanted list unless he shows up in three days. Chang's sister, Chang Li-shan (張麗善), said her brother will appear at an "appropriate time." Chang was absent from hearings held on the alleged corruption scandal surrounding a garbage incinerator project last week and again yesterday. Prosecutors that day opened a safe seized from Chang's residence on Aug. 13 for inspection but found it was empty. Hung said the fact that nothing was found in the safe will not affect the case's investigation, because prosecutors have obtained evidence "through other means."
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
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