■ Community
Catch 2006 at Taipei 101
The world's tallest skyscraper, Taipei 101, is inviting the public to watch the first sunrise of next year at its observatory on the 89th floor, officials said yesterday. The activity will be held from 4:30am on Jan. 1, but only 1,010 admission tickets will be available, they said. The tickets must be purchased in advance and buyers will be offered a gift box containing a set of commemorative badges and cards on which they can write down their New Year's wishes. Visitors will be able to hang their cards on a "wishing tree," the officials said.
■ Politics
Man says he paid voters
A man surnamed Hong turned himself in at the Banciao (板橋) District Public Prosecutors Office yesterday after allegations that the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) Taipei County commissioner candidate, Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉), had paid out a "travel subsidy" to help voters attend his Nov. 27 campaign rally. Hong apparently told prosecutors he voluntarily gave a number of people NT$300 each so that they could attend the rally. DPP Legislator Lee Wen-chung (李文忠), Luo's campaign manager, said that Hong is not one of the DPP's local organizers, and had handed out money on his own behalf. "While the travel allowance has nothing to do with Luo's campaign team, we have to say that it was very inappropriate behavior and we regret it," Lee said.
■ Society
MOI to form new group
A committee on the prevention of domestic violence and child abuse is to be established immediately, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The committee will offer rewards to those who report cases of domestic violence, Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) said. According to ministry figures, there were 7,481 child-abuse cases reported this year as of September, surpassing the 5,927 cases as of September last year, and 30 deaths.
■ Fisheries
Tuna licenses at risk
The licenses of 42 tuna boats ordered to return home after the international community's cut in quotas for Taiwan's bigeye tuna catch will be revoked if the ships refuse to return to port, Fisheries Administration Deputy Director-General Sha Chih-i (沙志一) said yesterday. Sha said the agency is poised to revoke the licenses and will ask the international fishery community to treat them as illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing vessels whose catches will be banned from export. Ship owners who fail to bring their boats home will face prison terms of three to seven years, he said.
■ Politics
Actresses sue Cho Po-yuan
The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) newly-elected Changhwa County commissioner, Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源), is likely to face a lawsuit filed overseas against him for using the images of two Japanese actresses on one of his election flyers without authorization. The management companies for the two actresses, Norika Fujiwara and Inamori Izumi, are planning to sue Cho for violation of intellectual property laws, TVBS reported. According to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌), the photos of the two actresses were from promotional photos used by Kanebo, a leading cosmetics company in Japan, in 2001. The DPP accused Cho of trying to pass the actresses off as his schoolmates, Hsu Hui-pao (許蕙寶) and Ku Hsiang-ling (谷湘玲). Cho yesterday said he didn't know that the women were Japanese actresses.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
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