■ Cross-strait Ties
Newspaper report denied
Director of the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Chinese Affairs Department, Tung Li-wen (董立文), yesterday denied that a task force had been established to help collect intelligence about China. He said that gathering information about China is routine for the department and no such task force exists. Tung said that among its sources, the department collects information through the Internet since it provides instant and free information. Tung said reporters had mistaken the department's move for the establishment of a new task force. "Our old office has become an information library, but that's all. The library has nothing to do with national security departments and no task force exists," he said.
■ Politics
PFP looking for candidates
The People First Party (PFP) will coordinate with people interested in running in the year-end elections before conducting a second round of nominations, party officials said yesterday. The second round is likely to involve Hsinchu, Miaoli and Hualien counties, the officials said. The party has already nominated candidates for six races, including Legislator Liu Wen-hsiung (劉文雄) for Keelung, Legislator Hsieh Chang-chieh (謝章捷) in Changhua County and Lienchiang Country Commissioner Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生) for re-election. PFP officials said the party will seek to negotiate with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) about possible cooperation in fielding candidates in the elections. The PFP hopes that a pan-blue agreement can be established and cooperation can be conducted through "coalition rule," they said.
■ Politics
KMT race heats up
With the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairmanship election less than two weeks away, the two candidates are ramping up their campaigns. Legislative Yuan Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) met with hundreds of veterans in Ilan yesterday and said that he is confident of winning. If elected, Wang said, he is willing to serve as a party chairman "close to the grassroots" and to listen to the voices of the rank and file. Responding to the belief held by many that the KMT chairman will naturally serve as the party's candidate in the 2008 presidential election, Wang said that this is not necessarily true. He said that if he's elected, he will work toward integrating the "pan-blue alliance" to field the candidate with the best chance of winning. If Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was the presidential candidate in 2008, Wang said he would throw his full support behind Ma. The mayor said he faces an uphill battle as he is short of campaign funds and must still carry out his job as mayor while campaigning.
■ Education
Trio prepare for Budapest
Three junior-high school students are getting ready to leave for Hungary on Saturday to compete in the seventh National Geographic World Championship in Budapest. Yang Si-hsien (楊斯顯) of Chinmei Middle School in Taipei, Wang Ning-yuan (王甯遠) of Chienkung Middle School in Hsinchu and Tzeng Ling-ting (曾令霆) of Hongdou Middle School in Taipei won the right to participate in the event by beating their competitors in a series of local qualification contests. The world championship for students aged 10 to 16 was launched by the US National Geographic Society in 1993. Students from 20 countries around the world will compete in Budapest for five days starting on Sunday.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
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