SOCIETY
New Year holiday extended
The Lunar New Year holiday next year will run for nine days from Jan. 21 to Jan. 29, Central Personnel Administration Minister Wu Tai-cheng (吳泰成) said yesterday. In response to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) during a question-and-answer session, Wu said the administration had decided to designate Jan. 27, a Friday, a holiday, thereby extending the six-day Lunar New Year holiday to nine days. The administration would also designate Feb. 4, a Saturday, a working day to make up for the Jan. 27 holiday, Wu said, adding that his agency would formally unveil its proposals before the end of this month. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education said this year’s winter vacation for schools would run from Jan. 18 to Feb. 7 following college entrance exams on Jan. 17 and Jan. 18.
CRIME
Thai workers deported
Seventy-nine illegal Thai workers were deported on a charter flight on Thursday. The trip home, co-funded by Taiwanese businesspeople based in Thailand, was initiated by the Thai government as part of its celebration of the 84th birthday of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The Thai government paid 2 million baht (US$64,900) to book the flight, while Taiwanese businesspeople contributed another 1.3 million baht for other expenses. The deportation was agreed after six months of negotiations with the Thai government, Thai-Taiwan Business Association president Norman Chang (張峰豪) said at a press conference after the group arrived in Bangkok. Also at the conference, Taiwan’s Representative to Thailand Henry Chen (陳銘政) extended his thanks to the Thai workers for their contribution to Taiwan’s infrastructure.
HEALTHCARE
Specialists gather in Taipei
More than 1,000 Asian obstetrics and gynecology specialists gathered in Taipei yesterday to exchange views and share new findings in women’s health. This marked the first time since 1989 that Taiwan had hosted the Asia and Oceania Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology president James Hsieh (謝卿宏) said. During the five-day congress titled “New Frontiers in Women’s Health,” topics ranging from miscarriages, pregnancy and labor risks to laparoscopic surgery would be covered, Hsieh said. He also expressed the association’s eagerness to host a bigger conference — the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics -— in future. “Our concern is whether Taipei can accommodate 20,000 foreign guests from more than 100 countries at the same time,” he said. If the government helped out, more doctors would be introduced to Taiwan’s achievements in the field of obstetrics and gynecology, he said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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