■ Politics
Chen Yi-hsin pulls out
Former baseball star Chen Yi-hsin (陳義信) yesterday said he was withdrawing from the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) list of nominees for the National Assembly elections. Chen, an Aborigine, was ranked 30th on the list, which would have assured him a seat. But he said he was withdrawing because he wants to pursue his graduate studies and his work at the Jia Chi Fitness Center. Chen had run as a DPP candidate in the 2001 legislative elections in Hualien County and for Taipei City councilor in 2002, but lost both times. The DPP has not found a replacement for Chen yet, DPP Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) said yesterday.
■ Politics
DPP raises staff salaries
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is having to lay off workers and cut salaries, but Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) announced that 150 DPP workers will enjoy a raise of about 3 percent after a proposal for reappointment of the party's annual budgets was passed by the party's Central Standing Committee yesterday. This year will be the first time DPP workers will get a raise since the party won the presidency in 2000. Lee said DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) made the decision after he discussed the party's expenses with financial affairs committee director Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘). Lee said the salary hikes will add more than NT$4.7 million to the party's annual budget. "The raise will take effect on April 1," he said. News of the salary increase was greeted with jubilation at party headquarters yesterday.
■ Politics
Tempers flare over Lo song
Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers yesterday criticized the Public Television Service for airing a concert last weekend that featured a performance of a song satirizing former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). Referring to Lee by his nickname, the song A-hui raises a dog by popular singer Lo Ta-you (羅大佑) accuses the former leader of hounding President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), with lyrics saying ``A-hui raises a dog that bites.'' Lo, a singer and songwriter known for his acerbic political songs, is close to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). The legislators said taxpayers' money should not be spent on ideologically biased shows. The station has apologized, saying it did not mean to discredit Lee and noting that Lo was one of several pop singers featured in a concert aired by the station. "Airing the concert was inapprop-riate," the station said in a statement. "We apologize for tarnishing the reputations of the persons concerned."
■ Safety
Fire disrupts work day
Choking from breathing in thick smoke, a number of people needed to be rushed to hospital for treatment but luckily no one sustained serious injuries from a fire which broke out in the ABC Building located in Xintian's Industrial Parks late yesterday afternoon. Although the fire was soon put out, because of the heavy smoke, as many as 45 staff members who were working in the top floors of the building had to run onto the roof and wait for rescue by helicopter. While the cause of the fire was still under investigation by officials, initial investigation reports suggested that the fire probably originated in an electricity transformer located in the basement of the building.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
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