■TRANSPORTATION
EasyCards support tennis
The Taipei EasyCard Corp yesterday celebrated the issue of 20 million EasyCards by presenting 300 sets of a special edition EasyCard featuring tennis player Lu Yen-hsun (盧彥勳) for a charity sale. The company began issuing EasyCards in 2002, and expanded its usage from just a MRT and bus fare card to an electronic wallet in April. Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and other guests at the celebration hosted an auction of five sets of the special-edition EasyCard, raising NT$1.01 million (US$31,800). That money, along with the proceeds of the 300 sets, will be given to Lu to fund his training. Lu made an appearance via video to thank his supporters. Last month he became the first Taiwanese to make it to the fourth round of the singles at Wimbledon. The special EasyCard costs NT$1,000. Details are available at www.rendylu.url.tw.
■POLITICS
Kaohsiung concert planned
A Chinese music concert will be held at the Kaohsiung National Stadium as one of the 10 activities celebrating the Republic of China’s centennial next year, Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) said yesterday. Siew, who chairs the Centenary Celebration Preparation Committee, said Chinese artists from all over the world will participate in the Nov. 12 concert. Committee members met at the Weiwuying Center for the Arts Preparation Office in Kaohsiung to exchange ideas with local artists and tourism groups about the celebration. Siew said it was time to transform the greater Kaohsiung region into an arts and culture area. The Weiwuying center, which was used by the military prior to the 1980s, will serve as a hub to integrate artistic resources in southern Taiwan, he said.
■CRIME
KMT ex-legislator indicted
Former KMT legislator Kwan Yuk-noan (關沃暖) was indicted on a corruption charge yesterday, accused of embezzling payments for legislative aides. Prosecutors requested a sentence of 12 years in prison, saying that Kwan has not shown remose for what he had done. Kwan served as a legislator-at-large representing overseas compatriots from 1998 to 2004. Taipei prosecutors said Kwan allegedly asked his former legislative aide Cheng Fang-kuo (鄭方國) to collect seven people’s names for him and claimed a total of NT$5,687,551 in payments for legislative aides. Kwan yesterday said he was innocent, adding that such activity was common practice in the legislature. Former KMT legislator Wu Cherng-dean (吳成典) was indicted by the Kinmen Prosecutors Office in 2008 on similar charges. His case is pending in the Kinmen District Court.
■CRIME
Mislabeled clothing seized
About 14,000 garments carrying “Made in Taiwan” labels that were actually made in China were confiscated during a raid on a Chiayi City warehouse on Thursday. Acting on a tip-off, female investigators from the Chiayi City branch of the Bureau of Investigation posed as customers of a hair salon and discovered the salon was selling Chinese-made clothing with the MIT label, deputy division chief Chang You-jen (張尤仁) said. Chang said police believe the husband of the salon owner, surnamed Chen (陳), was the mastermind of the operation. Chen is suspected of importing low-cost Chinese apparel and having workers replace the “Made in China” labels with “Made in Taiwan” ones before selling the clothing under the “Wuge” brand. The clothes cost between NT$100 and NT$200 per item, but sold for twice to three times to distributors around the country, Chang said.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
CASE: Prosecutors have requested heavy sentences, citing a lack of remorse and the defendants’ role in ‘undermining the country’s democratic foundations’ Five people affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), including senior staff from the party’s Taipei branch, were indicted yesterday for allegedly forging thousands of signatures to recall two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. Those indicted include KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹), secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿) and secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said in a news release. Prosecutors said the three were responsible for fabricating 5,211 signature forms — 2,537 related to the recall of DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and 2,674 for DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) — with forged entries accounting for
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