■ CRIME
Shih wins slander lawsuit
Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Wang Shih-cheng (王世堅) was found guilty yesterday of slandering former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) and New Aspect Cultural and Educational Foundation chairman Hsu Po-yun (�?�). The Taipei District Court sentenced Wang to 25 days in prison. The sentence may be commuted to a fine. Yesterday's ruling is final. Shih led demonstrations against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in the summer and autumn of 2006. Wang told a press conference on Sept. 23, 2006, that Hsu had gone to China on Sept. 21 to meet with top Chinese officials and report on the progress of the anti-Chen movement. Wang said Shih had sent Hsu. The court said in its ruling that Wang had offered no evidence to back his accusation.
■ SOCIETY
Aboriginal population grows
The number of Aborigines totaled 484,000 at the end of last year, accounting for 2.1 percent of the population, a report released yesterday by the Ministry of the Interior showed. The number marked an increase of 1.95 percent from 2006, much higher than the growth rate of the total population, 0.36 percent, the report said. A total of 256,000, or 52.9 percent, of Aborigines live in mountainous areas. The Amis accounted for the largest number, at 173,000, followed by the Atayal and the Paiwan, each accounting for approximately 80,000 people. Hualien and Taitung counties have the largest Aboriginal populations, with 33.8 percent of Taitung's population and 26 percent of Hualien's being Aboriginal.
■ EDUCATION
Ministry lauds Web project
An Internet afterschool program launched by the Ministry of Education has benefited more than 100 students so far, the ministry said yesterday. The program, designed to enhance the education of underprivileged children in remote areas via the Internet, has benefited more than 100 primary and junior high school students from Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Nantou and Kaohsiung counties since it was launched in November 2006, the ministry said. Fu Jen Catholic University in Taipei County, National Chi Nan University in Nantou County and Wen Tzao Ursuline College in Kaohsiung City administer the project in cooperation with the ministry. The NT$8.5 million (US$27,000) program aims to offer extra educational assistance to students to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas and between rich and poor, the ministry said.
■ POLITICS
DPP whip dismisses poll
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) yesterday shrugged off the results of a newspaper poll of public approval for the presidential candidates. Lai dismissed the results of a United Daily News survey conducted the day before that claimed Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his running mate, Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), had an approval rating of 56 percent, while the DPP's Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and his running mate, Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), had an approval rating of just 18 percent. Lai said that the information he had was very different from the daily's poll, saying that "if the poll were true, the Ma-Siew ticket should probably set off firecrackers now in celebration." He did not elaborate on his information or give its source. He said the aim of the pro-unification daily's poll was to support the KMT's candidates.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Eco-friendly lanterns
The Environmental Protection Bureau of Taipei County is promoting "online sky lanterns" as an eco-friendly and safe alternative to traditional lanterns ahead of the Lantern Festival, when rice paper lanterns are traditionally lit and sent into flight. The bureau said the kerosene and paper burned when releasing a single sky lantern results in the release of about 1kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Chiang Pen-Chi (蔣本芝), section chief of the bureau's "Low-Carbon Society Development Center," said yesterday that the online sky lanterns provided by the county government have attracted over 10,000 Taiwan residents over the past several years, resulting in a 10 tonne reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Besides being better for the environment, the online sky lanterns offer a safer alternative to the traditional lanterns, which cause several fires in Taiwan over the holiday each year.
■ TOURISM
Boat visits at five-year high
The number of tourist arrivals aboard cruise liners calling at Taiwan's international ports hit a five-year high of more than 426,000 last year, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) reported on Thursday. Last year's figure marked an increase of about 111,000 over the 2006 level, or a 35.3 percent growth year on year, the most recent statistics by the MOTC showed. Last year, Keelung Port saw the largest number of cruise liner tourist arrivals -- 272,000 or 63.8 percent of the total. The British-registered Rhapsody of the Seas was the most recent ocean liner to visit Keelung, mooring for half a day on Monday. There were more than 2,000 passengers aboard the ship, nearly 700 of whom were Chinese.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
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