CRIME
Broker given more years
A diplomatic broker from Singapore who is currently serving a jail term in Taiwan in connection with the embezzlement of US$30 million in Taiwanese diplomatic funds was given another three years and four months in prison yesterday on charges of breach of trust. Taipei District Court judges said Wu Shih-tsai (吳思材) and his partner, Ching Chi-ju (金紀玖), a Taiwanese national with a US passport, were commissioned by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2006, which wired money into a joint bank account held by Wu and Ching in September 2006, to help facilitate a deal to establish diplomatic ties with Papua New Guinea. The alleged diplomatic bid failed, but the duo did not return the funds to the ministry, which only later found out that the money had been completely withdrawn from the designated account.
POLITICS
Ma chooses Vatican envoy
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has designated Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) as his special envoy to attend the beatification ceremony for former pope John Paul II, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The Vatican has announced that Pope Benedict XVI will lead the beatification, a miracle attributed to pope John Paul II’s intercession on Sunday. The delegation led by Jiang and his wife Lee Shu-jen (李淑珍) was joined by James Lee (李光章), director-general of the ministry’s Department of Foreign Affairs. They left last night and will return to Taiwan on Wednesday. The ministry said the designation showed that Taiwan holds the former pope in high esteem and cherishes its relationships with the Holy See.
DIPLOMACY
Official criticizes diplomat
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) yesterday said Representative to Italy William Yih (易榮宗) “set a bad example” for the nation’s diplomats by refusing a transfer to Ecuador. Yih has instead applied for early retirement. Shen dismissed Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tsai Huang-liang’s (蔡煌瑯) accusation at the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee that the transfer was the result of a power struggle between the ministry and the Government Information Office, with which Yih was affiliated. Like servicemen, diplomats have no right to choose which battlefield they are sent to, said Shen, adding that the transfer was no different from general practice. Transferring Yih to Ecuador was tantamount to forcing him to leave the ministry because Yih does not speak Spanish, Tsai said.
ENVIRONMENT
Bureau says expect dry spell
People should be prepared for an extended dry spell even though the plum rain season is about to begin, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday. The bureau said that although an approaching cold front could bring rain nationwide at the beginning of next month, a dry spell should be expected in the following weeks. According to bureau data, only 11.2mm of rainfall was recorded in Yilan County between April 1 and Tuesday — the lowest volume recorded for that period since 1935. Another record was broken in Wuci (梧棲), central Taiwan, where the total rainfall for the period was 0.1mm, the lowest volume since 1976 when a rainfall monitoring station was set up there, the bureau said. In Hsinchu on the west coast, 18.6mm of rainfall was recorded in the first 26 days of this month, which was the third-lowest volume recorded since the collection of such data began.
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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