■ENVIRONMENT
Mild quake sways south
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck southern Taiwan at about 2am yesterday, the Central Weather Bureau’s Seismology Center reported. The quake was felt in most of southern Taiwan, but did not cause any damage or casualties, authorities said. It was centered 12.7km southwest of the Jiasian (甲仙) seismology observation station in Kaohsiung County at a depth of 19.2km, said Kuo Kai-wen (郭鎧紋), head of the center.
■CRIME
Hualien judge impeached
The Control Yuan yesterday impeached a Taiwan High Court Hualien Branch judge for visiting the home of a suspect in a corruption case in which he served as the judge. The Control Yuan referred Judge Lin Teh-sheng (林德盛) to the Commission on the Disciplinary Sanctions of Public Functionaries for disciplinary measures. Lin was accused of visiting the home of former Taitung County commissioner Wu Chun-li (吳俊立), who was charged with corruption while serving as a Taitung County councilor in 1999. Lin was suspected of accepting benefits from Wu in exchange for influencing the outcome of the judicial review in Wu’s favor.
■CRIME
Taiwan seeks extradition
The government is seeking the extradition from China of an airline passenger who claimed to have a bomb in his luggage during a flight bound for Shanghai, a Ministry of Justice official said yesterday. “We’ve already presented our request to [China] to bring back the man,” the official said. The request was based on an agreement forged by Taipei and Beijing on cooperation in the fight against crime, the official said, but declined to reveal the background of the man and the charges he may face. Local media said the passenger, identified as George Lin, holds both a US passport and a Taiwanese ID. He claimed there were explosives in his luggage on China Airlines Flight CI501 from Taipei on Saturday, leading pilots to divert the plane to Hangzhou, the Central News Agency (CNA) said. The plane with 293 passengers on board landed safely in Hangzhou and no one was injured in the incident. Lin was taken away by Chinese police for questioning, CNA said.
■CULTURE
Local belly dancer wins
Belly dancer Sun Yu-ting (孫于婷) has won first place in the solo category of the World Belly Dance Competition in Seoul, sharing the title with a South Korean dancer. Sun was presented with a championship trophy on Sunday, a day after the competition ended, amid some controversy over her final position in the contest. Sun tied with the South Korean competitor for the highest score, but was not named the top winner. After a protest by Tzeng Niou-lang (曾紐朗), leader of the Taiwanese team and head of the Taiwanese Dance and Sport Federation, the organizers of the competition agreed to present a winner’s trophy to Sun. However, they did not allow her to share the cash prize of US$3,000, saying the South Korean competitor had outshone Sun in the areas of dance skills and costume. The biennial competition in South Korea is one of the four major belly dance contests in the world, second only to an annual contest that is usually held in Cairo in June, Tzeng said. Twenty professional and amateur Taiwanese dancers, aged nine to 63, took part in this year’s competition. Several other members won various prizes.
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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