■ Society
Gay parade today
Some 60 social groups representing politics, academia, culture, the arts and entertainment are expected to join in an alternative lifestyle parade in downtown Taipei today, an organizer of the event said yesterday. The Taiwan Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Parade's organizing committee executive secretary, Wu Hsu-niang (巫緒樑), noted that the planned march has also won the support of many popular singers and TV celebrities, including Sandee Chen (陳珊妮), who will participate in a musical rally at the Red Theater in Hsimenting at the end of the parade. Although the annual march no longer enjoys the financial support it received last year from the city government, when it drew a great deal of attention from local and foreign media, Wu said, they will still put on a colorful activity filled with music to project the "happy image of the homosexual street party."
■ Legislature
Proposed peace law fails
The draft cross-strait peace promotion law proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the People First Party (PFP) failed to get its first reading in the legislative sitting yesterday after the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus showed objection to the bill. The bill proposes to have the Legislative Yuan establish a special ad hoc committee to push and participate in the cross-strait negotiation. The bill passed through the Procedure Committee on Tuesday with the pan-blue camp in majority. But now the DPP caucus had rejected the bill to get a first reading, the bill has to go through the Procedure Committee session again to get a first reading. The DPP caucus said the bill was impractical and might violate the administrative power.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
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