■ DEFENSE
Air show canceled
The Air Force yesterday decided to reschedule an air show at its Sungshan Command Headquarters from Sunday to Sept. 2 because of the approach of Typhoon Sepat. The Air Force said that the open house activity and the air show activities will be rescheduled to Sept. 2 at the same place and the same time. An activity at Taichung's Chingchunkang Base tomorrow will be rescheduled to Aug. 26.
■ JUDICIARY
Justices to be named
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is likely to nominate Yang Jen-shou (楊仁壽), head of the Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Functionaries, to replace Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生) as president of the Judicial Yuan. Weng is retiring, an anonymous source from the legislature said yesterday. A high-ranking official in the legislature said that Chen would submit a list of eight nominees for the Council of Grand Justices to the legislature for confirmation by Tuesday, to succeed the eight justices whose terms of office will expire at the end of next month, including Weng.
■ TRAVEL
Licenses accepted in Japan
The Japanese Cabinet approved on Wednesday an amendment to its traffic laws that recognizes Taiwanese drivers' licenses. Holders of Taiwanese drivers' licenses will be able to drive on roads in Japan starting on Sept. 19, a Taiwanese official stationed in Tokyo said yesterday. The goodwill measure adopted by the Japanese government follows its granting of 90-day visa-free visits for Taiwanese tourists in September 2005. The official said Taiwan's government would recognize Japanese drivers' licenses soon as a reciprocal gesture. Under the new Japanese regulations, a translated certificate should be attached to the drivers' licenses. According to reports, travel service operators in Hokkaido had made great efforts to persuade the Japanese government to recognize Taiwanese licenses.
■ POLITICS
Official's election annulled
The head of a Kaohsiung County township who was elected in December 2005 will be relieved of his position after the Kaohsiung branch of the Taiwan High Court annulled his election on Wednesday. Lin June-tsung (林榮宗), head of Niaosung Township (鳥松) and a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), slammed the court ruling, but said he had no choice but to accept the decision, which is final. Lin assumed office on March 1 last year. The Kaohsiung District Court found Lin guilty of vote-buying in a criminal suit in June last year. That ruling was overturned by the High Court in May this year, but Lin then lost a civil suit in which he contended that the 27 votes his camp was suspected of buying did not sway the outcome of the election, as he won by 3,034 votes. The High Court rejected that argument.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Housing research under way
Chaoyang University of Technology in Taichung County has launched a project to develop eco-friendly housing, a dean said yesterday. A research team will work on prefabricated houses to cut energy consumption and reduce environmental impact, the dean of the College of Enterprise Innovation said. The team expects to finish the project in one year and hopes to see mass production of the housing design begin shortly afterward.
Taiwan does not exclude the possibility of having formal diplomatic relations with countries that also have formal ties with China, regardless of Beijing’s stance, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said on Sunday. There was speculation in 2012 that Honduras was attempting to have simultaneous diplomatic relations with Taiwan and China, an idea that then-minister of foreign affairs David Lin (林永樂) rejected. Honduras severed formal ties with Taiwan on Sunday morning after establishing diplomatic relations with Beijing. President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has taken a more practical approach to relations with like-minded countries since assuming government in 2016. Previous administrations took the
Seven senior faculty members, including the principal, of a high school in Taichung were temporarily suspended from their jobs on Friday, pending an investigation by the Taichung Education Bureau into alleged bullying and abuse that led to the suicide of a student last month. The city’s education officials were too slow to suspend those involved, the student’s father told a news conference on Wednesday, at which Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien (張廖萬堅) and members of the Humanistic Education Foundation were also present. The boy had been a good student and a high achiever during elementary and junior-high, and had
Taiwan would have established formal relations with Argentina long ago if not for China’s interference, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Yui told US-based Spanish-language online news outlet Infobae in an interview published on Tuesday. Beijing has left behind a string of unfulfilled promises in Latin America, including pledges to build the Grand Nicaragua Canal and airports, docks, ports and industrial zones in El Salvador, he said. Meanwhile, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Mexico and other countries enjoy pragmatic and improving relations with Taiwan based on cooperation on the economy, culture, technology and science, he said. While Taiwan is “happy to live and let live,”
WASHED ASHORE: Of the 16 bodies discovered along Taiwan’s west coast this month, two were Vietnamese and five were Taiwanese, coast guard officials said Minister of Justice Tsai Ching-hsiang (蔡清祥) said that he has instructed prosecutors and maritime authorities to launch investigations after 16 bodies were found along Taiwan’s west coast this month, amid speculation that they were victims of smuggling or human trafficking rings. Coast Guard Administration (CGA) officials said the bodies, most of which had washed ashore, were found by coast guard personnel and local residents along the coastline from Keelung to Kaohsiung. Thirteen of the bodies are male and three are female, the CGA said, adding that items found on the bodies indicate that two of the men were Vietnamese, while three men
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