■ DEFENSE
Army finds human remains
An Army demining team in Kinmen discovered human remains during a demining operation a few days ago, sources told the Taipei Times yesterday. The remains, in complete form, seemed to be from two bodies, the sources said, adding that one was wearing an army uniform and had dog tag around the neck. Based on the type of uniform, the two men may have died during the 823 Artillery Bombardment in 1958, during which Chinese forces bombarded Kinmen with as many as 500,000 shells. As of press time, the remains were still at the scene, but the sources said local funeral service workers would collect them and cremate the remains later this week.
■ DIPLOMACY
Beijing pressures Tokyo
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (楊潔箎) yesterday urged his Japanese counterpart Masahiko Komura not to provide a forum for Taiwan's independence activists, a Japanese official said. In a bilateral meeting in Beijing, Yang said he saw Taiwan's plans for a referendum in March on whether to seek to join the UN as a threat, the official said. Yang asked Japan not to provide a forum for independence activists, nor send any "wrong messages." Komura said Japan could not support any one-sided attempt to change the balance of power between Taiwan and China, the official said. Japan occasionally plays host to politicians from Taiwan.
■ CRIME
Snake bite scheme fails
Police have arrested a man who allegedly used a snake bite in an insurance fraud scheme, a newspaper said yesterday. A Taipei construction worker identified only as Chien, 53, claimed he was bitten by a snake in November last year at the home of a friend who raised snakes, the Apple Daily reported. Chien was rushed to hospital by his friend and had one finger amputated. Several months ago, Chien approached his insurance company to claim NT$25 million (US$760,000) insurance for bodily injury. The insurance company studied Chien's medical records and became suspicious on finding that there was only one bite mark on Chien's hand, yet tests showed there were three types of snake venom in his blood.
■ RETAIL
Toy safety checks planned
The Ministry of Economic Affairs's Bureau of Standard Metrology and Inspection will conduct safety examinations of toys marketed in toy shops, department stores, shopping malls and night markets around the nation in the next few days, bureau officials said yesterday. The decision was made after the US Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled 62 toys manufactured in China from July 19 to Nov. 14 because they were painted with lead-based paint. The recalls included magnetic train sets, toy jewelry sets, accessories for Barbie dolls and stuffed toys, the officials cited online commission reports as saying. The officials said their examination would focus on whether the products contain excessive amounts of heavy metals, whether they have safety instructions, warnings and other useful information written in Mandarin, and whether any of the substandard products listed by the commission are marketed in Taiwan. Bureau officials advised consumers to check before buying toys containing small or magnetic parts that toddlers could choke on, as well as toys with sharp edges or that are painted in bright colors.
GREAT POWER COMPETITION: Beijing views its military cooperation with Russia as a means to push back against the joint power of the US and its allies, an expert said A recent Sino-Russian joint air patrol conducted over the waters off Alaska was designed to counter the US military in the Pacific and demonstrated improved interoperability between Beijing’s and Moscow’s forces, a national security expert said. National Defense University associate professor Chen Yu-chen (陳育正) made the comment in an article published on Wednesday on the Web site of the Journal of the Chinese Communist Studies Institute. China and Russia sent four strategic bombers to patrol the waters of the northern Pacific and Bering Strait near Alaska in late June, one month after the two nations sent a combined flotilla of four warships
THE TOUR: Pope Francis has gone on a 12-day visit to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. He was also invited to Taiwan The government yesterday welcomed Pope Francis to the Asia-Pacific region and said it would continue extending an invitation for him to visit Taiwan. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the remarks as Pope Francis began a 12-day tour of the Asia-Pacific on Monday. He is to travel about 33,000km by air to visit Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore, and would arrive back in Rome on Friday next week. It would be the longest and most challenging trip of Francis’ 11-year papacy. The 87-year-old has had health issues over the past few years and now uses a wheelchair. The ministry said
‘LEADERS’: The report highlighted C.C. Wei’s management at TSMC, Lisa Su’s decisionmaking at AMD and the ‘rock star’ status of Nvidia’s Huang Time magazine on Thursday announced its list of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence (AI), which included Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家), Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) and AMD chair and CEO Lisa Su (蘇姿丰). The list is divided into four categories: Leaders, Innovators, Shapers and Thinkers. Wei and Huang were named in the Leaders category. Other notable figures in the Leaders category included Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Meta CEO and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Su was listed in the Innovators category. Time highlighted Wei’s
EVERYONE’S ISSUE: Kim said that during a visit to Taiwan, she asked what would happen if China attacked, and was told that the global economy would shut down Taiwan is critical to the global economy, and its defense is a “here and now” issue, US Representative Young Kim said during a roundtable talk on Taiwan-US relations on Friday. Kim, who serves on the US House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee, held a roundtable talk titled “Global Ties, Local Impact: Why Taiwan Matters for California,” at Santiago Canyon College in Orange County, California. “Despite its small size and long distance from us, Taiwan’s cultural and economic importance is felt across our communities,” Kim said during her opening remarks. Stanford University researcher and lecturer Lanhee Chen (陳仁宜), lawyer Lin Ching-chi
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