JUDICIARY
Nominee task force approved
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday agreed to establish an ad hoc task force to help him nominate four grand judges whose terms will expire at the end of September. The Presidential Office said in a statement that Ma approved the establishment of the screening committee yesterday. The seven-person task force will be led by Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長). Former Judicial Yuan presidents Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生) and Lai In-jaw (賴英照) will serve as his deputies. At present, there are 15 grand justices. All nominations must be approved by the legislature.
POLITICS
WTC to hold convention
The World Taiwanese Congress (WTC) is scheduled to hold its 10th annual convention in Taipei on March 19, under the theme “Insisting on Taiwan Nation Building, Expanding International Space.” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Taiwan Solidarity Union Chairman Huang Kun-huei (黃昆輝) are expected to deliver speeches at the opening ceremony. The event will also feature two keynote speakers — Don Rodgers, chair of the political science department at Austin College in Texas, and Sakurai Yoshiko, a Japanese political commentator. Their presentations will be followed by two panel discussions. Past speakers at the event include US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell and other US academics and officials. The event will be held at the National Taiwan University Hospital International Convention Center. People interested in attending the free event can register with Ms Liu at (02) 2321-7398.
EDUCATION
Academic to receive award
Former National Tsing Hua University president Chen Wen-Tsuen (陳文村) has been named for an education award from a global organization of computer professionals, the university said yesterday. The information and communications technology (ICT) scientist has become the first Taiwanese to be granted the Taylor L. Booth Education Award by the IEEE Computer Society. Chen will receive a bronze medal and an honorarium of US$5,000 at the award ceremony in the US in May. Chen, 62, earned the award “for contributions to computer science education in Taiwan and worldwide, and for promoting computer networking education at all levels,” the IEEE Web site said. In 1982, he designed the Taiwan Academic Network, the first of its kind in Taiwan, paving the way for its public and commercial Internet use, the IEEE said. It also said Chen had also made a great contribution to the popularization of ICT education in schools nationwide.
CRIME
Jason Hu vows ‘action’
Following a shooting resulting in the injury of two college students on Tuesday, Greater Taichung Mayor -Jason Hu (胡志強) went on the offensive yesterday, saying: “Now is the time for action, not declarations.” DPP city councilors have asked that Hu apologize for what they claimed was deteriorating public order. “From the Weng Chi-nan (翁奇楠) case to shooting on the streets, Taichung’s public order is deteriorating rapidly,” DPP Greater Taichung Councilor Chen Shu-hua (陳淑華) said. Weng was gunned down in May last year at his office while playing mahjong with police officers. In his policy address, Hu said that of the reported 14 shootings nationwide this year, Taichung only claimed one.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
The Grand Hotel Taipei has rejected media reports claiming that the hotel had prevented CBS from broadcasting coverage of the Beijing summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on its premises. Media reports alleging that the hotel owner, dissatisfied with CBS’s coverage, prohibited the network from broadcasting political content on the hotel premises, are not true, the hotel said in a statement issued last night. The reports were “inconsistent with how the hotel actually handled the matter,” it said. The hotel said it received a refund request from a
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