■ DIPLOMACY
Justin Lin still on wanted list
Deputy Minister of National Defense Lin Yu-bao (林於?aid yesterday that World Bank vice president Justin Lin (林毅夫), a leading Chinese academic better known in Taiwan for his defection to China 30 years ago, is still regarded as a fugitive in accordance with the Act on Defection (投敵罪). Lin Yu-bao made the remarks at the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee when Chinese Nationalist Party Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方), who mentioned Justin Lin’s case, asked whether the military has a clear strategy on defectors in view of improving cross-strait relations. Lin Yu-bao said the military’s stance had not changed. “Justin Lin is still a wanted man,” he said. Justin Lin was a former army official stationed on Kinmen. He defected to China on May 16, 1979, by swimming from Kinmen to China’s Fujian Province. The charges of defection were automatically dropped when a 20-year period expired, but the ministry relisted him as a wanted defector on Nov. 15, 2002.
■ POLITICS
Wu announces China visits
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) announced two trips to China yesterday. Wu said he would lead a delegation to visit Sun Yat-sen’s mausoleum in Nanjing later this month, followed by another visit to China in July to attend a forum between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The delegation to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Sun Yat-sen’s burial at the mausoleum in Nanjing on June 1, following the removal of his body from its original resting place in Beijing, will leave before the end of the month, Wu said. More details about the visits will be determined next week, the KMT said.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
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