■ Politics
CIA document' handed over
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) has turned over an alleged intelligence document to the Criminal Investigation Bureau which she received from independent Legislator Li Ao (李敖), the Presidential Office said yesterday. On Wednesday, Li claimed he had obtained a CIA document suggesting that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had staged his own election-eve assassination attempt last year, hiring two snipers to kill or wound Lu so Chen would get sympathy votes and win re-election. The Presidential Office officials said copies of the document had been forwarded to the task force that investigated the shooting so that its authenticity could be established.
■ Diplomacy
Envoy says Haiti ties strong
Haiti will not cut diplomatic relations with Taipei, Ambassador Yang Cheng-da (楊承達) said on Wednesday. Yang made the remarks after the Washington Times reported that China has been pushing Haiti to sever ties with Taipei in exchange for its vote to extend the mandate for the UN peacekeeping mission in that country. Yang said Haiti's foreign ministry has repeatedly said that the country was unlikely to change its diplomatic policy. He said officials have also confirmed interim President Boniface Alexandre's plan to visit Taiwan next month.
■ Diplomacy
MOFA says visits kosher
The visits of US congressmen at the invitation of the Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) were aimed at boosting trade ties,not political lobbying, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) said yesterday. His remarks followed a report in the Washington-based Capitol Update that from 2000 to last year, a total of 34 members of Congress were treated by CIECA and the Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce (CNAIC) to trips to Taiwan. According to the weekly, the two groups failed to abide by a US law that stipulates lobbying groups must register with the US Congress and the Department of Justice. Lu said CIECA is a non-profit group engaged exclusively in strengthening Taiwan's economic links with the rest of the world. He said that its invitations to US lawmakers did not violate the law either in Taiwan or in the US because the visits did not involve any lobbying or political activities. CIECA was called the CNAIC prior to 2002, he said.
■ Cross-strait ties
Hu urges more contact
Contact between China and Taiwan must be increased to reduce suspicions and misunderstanding, Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) said yesterday in Beijing. "Contact is a good thing. It cannot bring negative results," he was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency. He also encouraged Chinese tourists to visit Taichung. "Beijing's people are very friendly and cute," he said. "The people of Taichung are also very cute. I welcome everybody to come to Taichung."
■ Health
US to help fund drug study
The US will cooperate with Taiwan in studying whether the use of ecstasy damages the human brain, a Department of Health official said yesterday. The US government will provide US$300,000 over two years for the National Bureau of Controlled Drugs and the Tri-Service General Hospital to study the impact of ecstasy on the brain. Fifty ecstasy users will undergo magnetic-resonance imaging exams so that researchers can see if their brain cells have been changed by using the drug.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
When Paraguayan opposition lawmaker Leidy Galeano returned from an all-expenses-paid tour of six Chinese cities late last year, she was convinced Paraguay risked missing out on major economic gains by sticking with longtime ally Taipei over Beijing — a message that participants on the trip heard repeatedly from Chinese officials. “Everything I saw there, I wanted for my country,” said Galeano, a member of the newly-formed Yo Creo party whose senior figures have spoken favorably about China. This trip and others like it — which people familiar with the visits said were at the invitation of the Chinese consulate in Sao Paulo
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