■ POLITICS
Siew declines invitation
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) has declined an invitation to attend a world Chinese businessmen's conference in Japan, a KMT spokesman said yesterday. The Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) reported yesterday that Siew was listed as one of the honorary chairmen of the 9th World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention in Kobe. The convention, which is being sponsored by China, includes such pro-China figures as Zheng Bijian (鄭必堅) and Yotaro Kobayashi, the heads of the China-Japan Friendship 21st Century Committee. Su said Siew decided a year ago that he would be unable to attend the conference because of his busy itinerary. Su said he was baffled by reports describing the conference as opposing independence for Taiwan and promoting unification. He said there are many honorary chairmen listed for the conference, including several former Japanese prime ministers. Su said Siew's invitation was indicative of his stature in the world of international trade.
■ CRIME
Songshan police admit error
The Songshan Precinct of Taipei City Police Department admitted yesterday it had erred in identifying three decorators as thieves and apologized, but the trio refused to accept the apology. On May 30, an office on the seventh floor of a building in Sungshan reported NT$10,000 was missing. The precinct gave TV stations footage from the building's security video which showed Liao Keng-jen (廖庚仁) and his two sons passing cash to one another in the elevator about the time the robbery was reported. The police asked the public to "help catch these three men as quickly as possible." The Liaos, however, had been working on a renovation project on the 11th floor of the building and the money in the elevator was their pay. Liao and his sons went to the precinct to complain. Precinct Director Huang Chia-lu (黃嘉祿) admitted the error and apologized. Liao declined to accept the apology and asked Huang to step down. "I will step down if I have to," Huang said.
■ WEATHER
CWB watching storm
Tropical Storm Manyi formed at 2am yesterday near Guam, but it was unlikely to become a threat to Taiwan in the next few days, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday. As of press time, the center of the storm was located 500km south-southwest of Guam and was moving northwest at a speed of 23kph. It was to early to say whether the storm will head toward Taiwan, the bureau said. However, the bureau issued a precipitation alert for Taipei city and county, and Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Chiayi and Tainan counties. The bureau estimated that the rain in Chiayi County's Taibao Township (太保) measured 76.5mm in less than an hour yesterday.
■ CROSS-STRAIT TIES
Dance troupe visits China
More than 40 members of Kinmen's Wuchiang Dance Troupe left for Xiamen yesterday to take part in a summer camp with Xiamen's Little Egret Folk Dance Troupe. The group, made up mostly of students, traveled by boat. The delegation will stay in Xiamen for eight days. Wuchiang troupe supervisor Chang Hui-ling (張慧玲) said the visit was intended to expose his dancers to a different techniques and a different environment. The Little Egret troupe was established in 1993 and was the first professional folk dance troupe in China. The Wuchiang Dance Troupe was established in 2002.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first
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