WEATHER
Cold snap continues
A new cold spell gripping the nation was expected to send temperatures down to below 10°C in areas north of Chiayi from late yesterday to early today, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. Temperatures already dropped to 9.5°C in Danshui, New Taipei City (新北市), early yesterday, the bureau said. Daytime temperatures today are forecast to range from 13°C to 14°C in northern Taiwan, 16°C to 18°C in central Taiwan and 19°C and 21°C in southern Taiwan, it said. The intensifying cold front is also expected to bring wet weather, with the northern and northeastern regions likely to experience heavy rain, the bureau said.
SOCIETY
NTU student punished
National Taiwan University said on Monday it had punished a PhD student who purposely blocked an ambulance as it was rushing a woman to a hospital. Hsiao Ming-li (蕭明禮), who is pursuing a doctorate in history, was handed two major and two minor demerits, in addition to probation, the school’s disciplinary committee said in the statement. The 33-year-old must also undergo psychiatric counseling and treatment, the committee ruled. He was also banned from driving on campus. Hsiao’s behavior provoked public outrage and seriously harmed the school’s reputation, the committee said, especially since it took him 10 days to apologize for his action. He is accused of maliciously blocking the ambulance carrying the woman by stopping his car in the middle of the road in Sindian District (新店), New Taipei City (新北市), on Dec. 24. Video footage also shows him giving the ambulance his middle finger after he blocked it. The 86-year-old woman died before reaching the hospital, prosecutors said. Hsiao has also been charged with causing actual bodily harm and obstructing officials, as some of the ambulance workers were hurt when Hsiao forced their vehicle to make an emergency stop, the investigators added.
POLITICS
DPP expels five councilors
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday confirmed the expulsion of five city councilors who failed to abide by party rules during a speaker election last month. Huang Chien-huei (黃劍輝), a spokesperson for the party’s Central Executive Committee, said the five failed to follow rules on how they should vote for local speakers and deputy speakers. Rebuffed after traveling personally to meet senior party officials to plead her case, newly elected New Taipei City Councilor Adrean Lee (李婉鈺) maintained that she accidentally voted for herself and said the DPP should “give me another chance.” Another councilor held up placards outside the DPP headquarters in protest. Separately, DPP Deputy -Secretary-General Fred Hung (洪耀福) said yesterday former Tainan City mayor Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) would likely be nominated as the party’s candidate for a legislative by-election in Greater Tainan, following William Lai’s (賴清德) election as mayor last month.
EDUCATION
Colleges cooperate
A college in Taipei has formed a cooperation program with a Chinese university to attract more Chinese students to Taiwan, its chairman said yesterday. Taipei College of Maritime Technology chairman Lin Chao-rung (林朝容) told a press conference that his school planned to help Quanzhou Normal University in Fujian Province, China, establish three new departments — shipping business management, marine engineering and navigation.
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,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
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
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
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