■ Society
Centenarians multiplying
Taiwan has 713 centenarians, with an average age of 101.7, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The ministry was publicizing the approaching Chungyang Festival, which falls on Oct. 22 this year and which has been used to honor senior citizens since 1966. The ministry said the oldest person in the country is a 120-year-old woman, while the oldest man is 109. Both live in Taipei. The number of centenarians jumped by 57 from last year, the report said, adding that 91 percent of centenarians are aged between 100 and 104. Women account for 496, or 69.6 percent, of the centenarians. By location, Taipei City boasts the largest number of centenarians at 150, followed by Taipei County at 100 and Taoyuan County at 59.
■ Crime
Trio nabbed in Thailand
Three Taiwanese men have been arrested for alleged drug-trafficking in Thailand after being found with 20kg of heroin, Thai police said yesterday. Kao Chih-ping, 35, Chiang Ching-huang, 47, and Chen Chien-hung, 42, said they had been hired to take the drugs to Taiwan where they had a street value of more than US$1 million, according to police. Police officers said they found a quarter of the haul yesterday in the luggage of one of the men as he was checking in at Bangkok's international airport for a flight returning to Taiwan. The other two were arrested during a raid at their apartment in Bangkok where the rest of the drugs were found.
■ Politics
PFP names candidates
The People First Party (PFP) yesterday unveiled its nomination list for legislators-at-large -- and Chairman James Soong(宋楚瑜), who had vowed to enter the legislature -- was not on it. The PFP, which estimates that it will win about seven at-large seats in December's legislative elections, nominated 16 candidates, mostly incumbents. Legislators Liu Yi-ju (劉憶如), Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄), Nelson Ku (顧崇廉), Chung Jung-chi (鍾榮吉) and Lin Hui-kuan (林惠官), along with Tainan County Farmers' Association chairman Tsai Sheng-chia (蔡勝佳) and lawyer Lee Fu-tien (李復甸), are the seven expected to win a seat at the elections. Meanwhile, Li Ao (李敖), the maverick commentator who was the New Party's presidential candidate in the 2000 election, yesterday announced that he will run as an independent in the southern electoral district of Taipei City.
■ Politics
TSU names candidates, too
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) yesterday announced its legislator-at-large nomination list. Annie Lee (李安妮), whose name has been mentioned as a possible candidate, was not nominated. She is the daughter of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). Meanwhile, estimating that it would win at least five legislator-at-large seats, the TSU nominated national advisor to the president Chen Yung-hsing (陳永興), senior advisor to the National Security Council Lai Hsin-yuan (賴幸媛), TSU Legislator Huang Cheng-che (黃政哲), director general of the Taiwan Bar Association Kuo Lin-yung (郭林勇) and architect Chen Yin-ho (陳銀河). Additionally, the party's incumbent legislators-at-large, Wu Tong-sheng (吳東昇) and Cheng Cheng-lung (程振隆), voluntarily withdrew from the nomination process.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition