■ POLITICS
Chen lists files as classified
The Presidential Office informed the Taipei District Court yesterday through an official document issued by secretary-general Ye Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had officially listed documents relevant to the state allowance fund case as classified files and asked for the return of the files. The Court is yet to make a decision on whether to return the files, but asked the prosecutors and defendants to express their opinions. Chen made a similar request in June. However, the Court has not delivered a ruling on the request. The presidential Office made the request based on the Council of Grand Justices' constitutional interpretation this June which stated the president has the authority to define what constitutes a national secret.
■ SOCIETY
Taipei opens up to big bikes
Motorcycles with an engine capacity of 550cc or larger will be permitted on 10 expressways in the city from November, the Taipei City Government said yesterday. The 10 expressways include Tiding and Huandong boulevards, the Shui-Yuan, Huanhe N and S, Xinyi and Zhoumei expressways, and the Jianguo, Civil Boulevard, Keelung Road and Xinsheng N Road overpasses. Traffic police said that they would clamp down on motorcyclists who violate traffic rules.
■ POLITICS
Anti-graft squad reconvenes
Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Shih Ming-teh's (施明德) anti-corruption campaign will celebrate the one-year anniversary of its sit-in protests with a gathering at Ketagalan Boulevard tomorrow. The gathering, meant to show continued opposition to corruption and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), will begin at 6pm and last until midnight, campaign spokesman Jerry Fan (范可欽) said. It will feature a 40m-long totem pole made with candles, and Shih is scheduled to deliver a speech. Shih, who was the DPP chairman from 1994 to 1996 before leaving the party in 2000, launched the anti-graft campaign on Sept. 9 last year with a sit-in in front of the Presidential Office to call on Chen to step down.
■ SOCIETY
Nation ranked 49th-largest
Taiwan has the 49th-largest national population in the world, the Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD) on Thursday quoted a US demography source as saying. Figures publicized by the US Population Reference Bureau last month estimates Taiwan's population at 22.9 million this year, up 0.3 percent or 77,000 people year-on-year. CEPD officials forecast the nation's total population would shrink to 18.9 million by 2050 as a result of drastic social changes. They predict the population will reach its apex in 2019 with 23.3 million people, before gradually declining to 18.9 million by 2050.
■ CRIME
Two get bail in Rebar trial
Two executives who had been detained since July for suspected involvement in the Rebar Asia Pacific Group embezzlement case were yesterday released on bail, Taipei District Court spokesman Liu Shou-sung (劉壽嵩) said. Yi-feng Asset Management co-chairman Lawrence Wang (王令興) and general manager Lee Teh-yang (李德洋) were released on bail of NT$5 million and NT$1 million respectively. Liu said the court ruled it unnecessary to keep Wang and Lee in detention at the current stage of the trial, but prohibited them from leaving the country.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS