■POLITICS
Combined election date set
The Central Election Commission decided yesterday to combine the elections for county and city heads and councilors, as well as township mayors, on Saturday, Dec. 5. Council Secretary-General Teng Tien-yu (鄧天祐) told a news conference after the meeting that the elections would be held together to cut down on expenses. The combined election would be held from 7am to 5pm that day, giving voters two more hours than the usual 8am to 4pm voting hours. Commission members also heard the dual citizenship case of former Taiwan Solidarity Union legislator George Liu (劉寬平), who only formally gave up his US citizenship in 2007 after he finished his term as legislator from 2005 to 2007. Teng said the commission would not make a decision on revoking Liu’s elected status until after they collect relevant documents.
■POLITICS
KMT pushing assets revision
The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Clean Government Committee is pushing for the early enactment of an amendment to the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例) that would lead to the prosecution of civil servants holding assets whose sources cannot be identified. The committee resolved on Tuesday to invite Legislator Lin Yi-shih (林益世), the executive director of the party’s Central Policy Committee, to brief the anti-corruption committee next month on progress made in pushing the amendment through the Legislative Yuan. Lin said he hoped the amendment could be passed this legislative session so that it can take effect as soon as possible. The amendment would hold public officials criminally liable if they cannot account for assets in their possession.
■SOCIETY
Asians sexually unhappy
Fifty-seven percent of men and 64 percent of women in the Asia-Pacific region are dissatisfied with their sex lives, news reports said yesterday. Respondents in only three of the 13 countries where the pharmaceutical firm Pfizer conducted a survey reported satisfaction rates of more than 50 percent. India ranked the highest with 73 percent of respondents to the Asia-Pacific Sexual Health and Overall Wellness survey saying they were satisfied. India was followed by the Philippines at 52 percent, Taiwan at 51 percent and New Zealand at 40 percent. Japan ranked the lowest at 10 percent. The survey by the company that makes Viagra was also conducted in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. It was conducted from May to July last year among 2,016 sexually active men and 1,941 sexually active women aged 25 to 74.
■VISAS
HK, Macau visas extended
The National Immigration Agency yesterday announced that the duration for landing visas or electronic visas for residents of Hong Kong and Macau would be extended to 30 days from 14 days, effective immediately. In other changes, the Ministry of the Interior announced that individuals deemed to be victims of human trafficking could bypass the visa application process if he or she agrees to help with official investigations. Individuals would be asked to stay in Taiwan as long as necessary to help with ongoing court cases. Meanwhile, missionaries must pass a government agency review process before being permitted to apply for residency in Taiwan, the ministry said.
■RESOURCES
Kinmen wants Chinese water
Kinmen County Commissioner Lee Chu-feng (李柱烽) urged the Cabinet yesterday to allow the island to import potable water from China to solve water shortages. Doing so would also provide an alternative to local water that has long been criticized for its quality, Lee said. He raised the issue ahead of a meeting of the Council for Economic Planning and Development next week that will review the feasibility of a proposal by the Water Resources Agency to import water from China.
■CRIME
Robber leaves his number
A man was arrested over the theft of NT$5,000 from a computer engineer after leaving his phone number with his victim, local television reports said yesterday. The engineer was collecting money at a cash machine in Taichung County on Tuesday night when the man threatened him with a knife, cable news network ETTV said. The robber demanded more money from the engineer, who told him he could borrow NT$20,000 from his friends. The robber then left his phone number with the engineer, who gave it to police, ETTV said.
■CRIME
Court upholds Yeh sentence
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a district court’s verdict that sentenced former Procomp Informatics Co chairwoman Sophie Yeh (葉素菲) to 14 years in prison and a fine of NT$180 million (US$5.2 million) for her role in a NT$7 billion accounting fraud at the chipmaker. Yeh can still appeal. The Shilin District Court handed down the original verdict in December 2005. The High Court said Yeh had misled investors over Procomp by overstating the company’s sales and that her actions led to massive losses for investors and the company.
Taiwanese scientists have engineered plants that can capture about 50 percent more carbon dioxide and produce more than twice as many seeds as unmodified plants, a breakthrough they hope could one day help mitigate global warming and grow more food staples such as rice. If applied to major food crops, the new system could cut carbon emissions and raise yields “without additional equipment or labor costs,” Academia Sinica researcher and lead author the study Lu Kuan-jen (呂冠箴) said. Academia Sinica president James Liao (廖俊智) said that as humans emit 9.6 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with the 220 billion tonnes absorbed
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
Taipei is to implement widespread road closures around Taipei 101 on Friday to make way for large crowds during the Double Ten National Day celebration, the Taipei Department of Transportation said. A four-minute fireworks display is to be launched from the skyscraper, along with a performance by 500 drones flying in formation above the nearby Nanshan A21 site, starting at 10pm. Vehicle restrictions would occur in phases, they said. From 5pm to 9pm, inner lanes of Songshou Road between Taipei City Hall and Taipei 101 are to be closed, with only the outer lanes remaining open. Between 9pm and 9:40pm, the section is
China’s plan to deploy a new hypersonic ballistic missile at a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) base near Taiwan likely targets US airbases and ships in the western Pacific, but it would also present new threats to Taiwan, defense experts said. The New York Times — citing a US Department of Defense report from last year on China’s military power — on Monday reported in an article titled “The missiles threatening Taiwan” that China has stockpiled 3,500 missiles, 1.5 times more than four years earlier. Although it is unclear how many of those missiles were targeting Taiwan, the newspaper reported
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