■ DIPLOMACY
Ma sends congratulations
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) sent a message to Panamanian president-elect Ricardo Martinelli after Martinelli won the country’s election on Sunday, while Ambassador to Panama Simon Ko (柯森耀) said he believed Martinelli’s election would not lead to major changes in bilateral relations. An embassy official who spoke on condition of anonymity said Ma delivered his congratulations and expressed willingness to continue promoting relations between the two countries after Martinelli’s inauguration. The official said Ma faxed his congratulatory letter to the embassy and instructed that it be hand-delivered to the president-elect.
■ POLITICS
Chen applies to DPP
The Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Taipei City branch said yesterday it had received former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) application for membership and the party would convene a meeting today to review it in accordance with regulations. Taipei branch director Huang Ching-lin (黃慶林) said if Chen’s application passed a preliminary review, it would be submitted to the party’s Central Standing Committee for approval. Huang said it would be good for Chen to return to the fold and would hopefully help unify the party. Huang visited Chen at the Taipei Detention Center yesterday.
■ POLITICS
KMT mulls 'clean' rules
The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Clean Government Committee (CGC) yesterday suggested the party not nominate anyone for elections who has been sentenced to one year in prison or longer at a first trial. In response, KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yi (吳敦義) said the party would take the suggestion seriously. Wu said during an interview at the legislature that since the KMT had won the presidency, the public has held KMT officials to higher standards, adding that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) were very self-disciplined. If the committee’s suggestion is in the public’s interest, the KMT cannot turn a deaf ear, he said. But KMT Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅崑萁) criticized the suggestion. Fu, who was sentenced to four years and six months at a first trial in an insider trading case, said the committee did not have authority over the party’s charter. When asked whether he would still seek the party’s nomination for Hualien County commissioner, Fu said: “People in Hualien know clearly I am resolved to serve the people.”
■ TRANSPORTATION
Taichung offers free buses
Taichung City Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) said yesterday that the city would launch a free public bus program from May 18 as part of efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions. During a six-month period that will run through Nov. 17, those carrying “Taiwan Easy Go” cards will be able to ride public buses in downtown Taichung free of charge from 7am to 9am and 5pm to 7pm, Monday to Friday. The city government hopes the initiative will encourage more people to take the bus, Hu said, adding that his goal was to see an increase in passenger volume to at least 3 million per month within the next three years. In early 2002, passenger volume was 300,000 per month, he said. The number has increased to 2.1 million thanks to the incentive programs introduced by the city government, he said. Some NT$250 million (US$7.58 million) has been allocated for the new program, he said.
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. The single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, saber-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. A single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 800,000 to 400,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, sabre-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
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