■ MILITARY
US unveils missile mix-up
The US Defense Department yesterday announced that it had mistakenly shipped non-nuclear ballistic missile components to Taiwan from a US Air Force base in the state of Wyoming. It said the items have been returned to the US. At a Pentagon news conference, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne said the misshipped items were four nose cone assemblies for ballistic missiles. They were sent instead of helicopter batteries that had been ordered by Taiwan, he said. Wynne said the matter was under investigation.
■ HEALTH
Dengue fever cases emerge
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday confirmed four more cases of dengue fever infections that were contracted overseas. The latest cases involve a three-year-old boy who recently traveled to Indonesia with his family, two businessmen with operations in Indonesia and an Indonesian national working in Taiwan, CDC officials said. The cases brought the number of overseas dengue fever infections to 18 so far this year, compared with 14 cases recorded during the same period last year, the officials said. Of the 18 cases, nine were contracted in Indonesia, three each originated in Vietnam and the Philippines and one each was contracted in India and Malaysia. The origin of the remaining case was uncertain because the patient traveled to two different countries. Last year, Taiwan recorded 179 cases of dengue fever contracted overseas, with 55 originating in Vietnam and 48 in Indonesia, according to the CDC. CDC officials advised travelers to Southeast Asia to wear long-sleeved shirts and use anti-mosquito repellent.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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