■ POLITICS
Hsieh campaigns online
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) has launched an official campaign Web site to attract young voters. Hsieh's top campaign manager Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) said the Web site features video and photos of tourist attractions such as scenery from beaches in Kaohsiung and the Chiku (七股) wetlands in Tainan County. It also features a famous documentary film depicting the daily life of three elderly rice farmers in Tainan County. Yeh invited Internet users to visit the site and look at Hsieh's campaign information and other video and audio files.
■ POLITICS
Chu apologizes to Su's mom
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chu Fong-chi (朱鳳芝) apologized yesterday to Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) vice presidential candidate Su Tseng-chang's (蘇貞昌) mother for saying that she had an affair with a veteran after her husband died. Chu asked Veterans Affairs Commission Minister Hu Chen-pu (胡鎮埔) whether he had heard a rumor about Su's mother having an affair during a National Defense Committee meeting on Wednesday. Chu then corrected herself, saying the person she meant to refer to was former DPP chairman Yu Shyi-kun's mother. Chu said her comment was not inappropriate, but in response to criticism from DPP lawmakers, offered an apology.
■ AVIATION
New problem for problem jet
A China Airlines jet developed a fresh technical problem yesterday while on a flight home from Japan where it had undergone repairs on a crack on its fuselage, officials said. The Boeing 737-800 struggled to take off from the airport in Saga, southern Japan, and returned with what its captain called a glitch in its airspeed indicators, the officials said. "There was a discrepancy between the reading of the captain's airspeed indicator and that of the co-pilot's," China Airlines Tokyo office spokesman Tadahiro Akiyama said. There were no people on board other than the captain and the co-pilot, he said. "It took much [more] time for the aircraft to take off for reasons not immediately clear. It lifted up on the edge of the runway," said Rui Mitsuma, a transport ministry official based at the airport. Public network NHK broadcast footage showing the plane crushing a lamp at the end of a 60m overrun strip stretching from the 2,000m runway. A team of engineers from the airline's head office had inspected and repaired the fuselage.
■ DIPLOMACY
Chen to meet with allies
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will depart for the Marshall Islands on Thursday to attend the second Taiwan-South Pacific leaders' summit scheduled to take place the following day, Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁), deputy secretary-general of the Presidential Office, said yesterday. Chen Chi-mai said that after the summit, the president and leaders of the six Pacific allies -- the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Palau, Tuvalu and Nauru -- will sign the "Majuro Declaration" in which the leaders of the allies will express their support for Taiwan's bid to join the UN. Majuro is the capital of the Marshall Islands. The summit meeting will review various cooperation projects in the "Palau Declaration" signed during the first summit to strengthen their friendship through cooperation in the areas of economic development, capacity building, society and culture, Chen Chi-mai said.
■ CRIME
Illegal gunmaker caught
Police in Taitung County infiltrated an underground firearm factory in the county late on Thursday night, nabbing the owner and a batch of guns and tools. Taitung police said at a news conference yesterday that after months of investigation and surveillance, the police raided the garage owned and run by Lai Chien-chuan (賴建全), arresting him on the spot and confiscating converted gas rifles, pistols, semi-finished converted Beretta guns, ammunition and tools for weapon modification. Lai, 33, claimed that he is "addicted" to firearms of all kinds and purchased these weapons online to satisfy his personal hobby, police said.
■ DIPLOMACY
MOFA thanks US House
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) expressed gratitude yesterday to the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing a resolution urging the executive branch to supply Taiwan with sufficient defensive weapons and services. The US House passed Resolution 676 on Wednesday, declaring that the US, in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act, should make articles and services for self-sufficient defense capacity available to Taiwan. MOFA deputy spokeswoman Yeh Fei-bi (葉非比) said yesterday that the resolution shows the House's support for Taiwan's determination to upgrade its defensive capabilities.
■ POLITICS
Lawmakers doubt Ma
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday alleged that Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) lied when he said he was unaware of a sign that contained a pun using an aggressive Chinese swear word. The KMT took down the sign on Thursday, after it drew the ire of many who said that is seriously insulted Taiwanese women. But DPP Legislator Wang Shu-hui (王淑慧) said yesterday that the KMT also produced T-shirts bearing the slogan, which can be bought online. Wang said the KMT started selling the T-shirts at its Sept. 15 rally to promote the KMT's UN referendum proposal. "I doubt that Ma didn't know about the slogan in advance," Wang said. "He owes the public an apology."
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
NINTH MONTH: There were 11,792 births in Taiwan last month and 15,563 deaths, or a mortality rate of 8.11 per 1,000 people, household registration data showed Taiwan’s population was 23,404,138 as of last month, down 2,470 from August, the ninth consecutive month this year that the nation has reported a drop, the Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday. The population last month was 162 fewer than the same month last year, a decline of 0.44 per day, the ministry said, citing household registration data. Taiwan reported 11,792 births last month, or 3.7 births per day, up 149 from August, it said, adding that the monthly birthrate was 6.15 per 1,000 people. The jurisdictions with the highest birthrates were Yunlin County at 14.62 per 1,000 people, Penghu County (8.61
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