■ Law and order
KRTC official denies charges
Almost four hours of videotapes taken of the bidding process for construction of six sections of Kaohsiung's rapid transit system were played at a court hearing yesterday during which the suspects were given a chance to give their interpretations of the recorded facts. Chen Min-hsien (陳敏賢), former vice chairman of the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) and a key suspect in the case, denied he had known the base prices for each bid and had revealed them to contractors he favored. He claimed the video recordings show that he couldn't have had access to the base prices. Chen, former KRTC deputy general manager Lai Hsien-yu (賴獻玉), a former Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) official and two former Kaohsiung city government officials were indicted on charges of disclosing classified information and breach of trust after the prosecution found the winning bidders offered prices "unusually close to the government's base prices."
PHOTO: HUANG CHIH-YUAN
■ Politics
Arms bill fails for 44th time
The legislature's Procedure Committee yesterday rejected the arms procurement plan for the 44th time, while the confirmation of the National Communications Commission (NCC) members were placed on the legislative agenda. The pan-blue-controlled committee also shelved the confirmation of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) Control Yuan nominees, the administrative corporation bill, the disposition of party assets bill and draft amendments to the Referendum Law (公民投票法). A draft bill to create an ethics and anti-corruption bureau under the Ministry of Justice and draft amendments to the Organic Law of the Ministry of Justice (法務部組織法) were also deferred.
■ Diplomacy
Hospitals to strengthen ties
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday announced a new assistance initiative in which several Taiwanese hospitals will adopt the local hospitals of Pacific island countries in a bid to bolster Taiwan's relations with its South Pacific allies. Director of MOFA's Department of East Asia and Pacific Affairs Donald Lee (李傳通) said yesterday the new medical assistance measures would provide medical experts to the South Pacific countries of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Fiji, Palau and the Marshall Islands. Papua New Guinea and Fiji do not have official relations with Taiwan.
■ Diplomacy
MOFA rejects Spratlys plea
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rejected Vietnam's demand that it cease building airstrips on the disputed Spratlys archipelago, an oil-rich region over which many Asian countries, including China, also claim sovereignty. Vietnam's Foreign Ministry said last week Taiwan's plans to build airstrips on an islet it calls Thai Binh would be a serious violation of Vietnamese sovereignty. "We have no political intention or military purpose, and do not intend to cause tensions to rise in the region," MOFA said in a statement. "We urge Vietnam to treat the airport construction rationally and to not divert the focus to sovereignty disputes," it said. Taiwan said the airport would be used for humanitarian purposes.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book
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