■ 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.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
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