■ 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.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
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