■ 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.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS