■SOCIETY
Dogs eat owner
Two pet dogs partly ate the body of their owner, whose corpse was discovered at his home nearly a month after he had died, a local report said yesterday. The dogs had eaten most of the unidentified 51-year-old’s right side by the time two police officers visited his home in Jhonghe (中和), Taipei County, the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) reported. Along with the two dogs, which had blood-stained mouths and paws, the officers also found the deceased’s former wife, who appeared to have stayed with the man’s corpse for the entire period after his death, it said. Police made the discovery by chance when serving a summons on the woman to appear at the local prosecutor’s office for investigation on burglary charges. Police were still investigating the case but believe that the man died from liver disease. They were also looking into the possibility that his former wife, whom he divorced in 1995, was mentally ill.
■POLITICS
Government goes paperless
The government is expected to implement an online sign-off system in all government agencies at all levels nationwide by 2012 in a bid to reduce paper waste, Minister of the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission Chu Chin-peng (朱景鵬) said yesterday. “The system can save the country 90 million pieces of paper a year, or about 9,000 fully grown trees,” he said. “It can cut the time needed to process a document from an average of 3.41 days to 2.85 days and save the government several hundred million dollars in postage fees.” The government officials will have to process documents without paper except under special circumstances when handling confidential matters, he said. Some central government units started trial operation of the system two years ago.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
Typhoon Krathon, a military airshow and rehearsals for Double Ten National Day celebrations might disrupt flights at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in the first 10 days of next month, the airport’s operator said yesterday. Taoyuan International Airport Corp said in a statement that it has established a response center after the Central Weather Administration issued a sea warning for Krathon, and urged passengers to remain alert to the possibility of disruptions caused by the storm in the coming days. Flight schedules might also change while the air force conducts rehearsals and holds a final airshow for Double Ten National Day, it added. Although
SEMICONDUCTORS: TSMC is able to produce 2-nanometer chips and mass production is expected to be launched by next year, the company said In leading-edge semiconductor manufacturing China is behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) by at least 10 years as the Taiwanese chipmaker’s manufacturing process has progressed to 2 nanometers, National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) said yesterday. Wu made the remarks during a meeting of the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee when asked by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) about a report published in August by the Chinese version of Nikkei Asia that said Taiwan’s lead over China in chip manufacturing was only three years. She asked Wu Cheng-wen if the report was an accurate
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
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