SOCIETY
Kaohsiung births increase
Greater Kaohsiung observed an increase in both marriages and births last year, a year many people considered to be lucky, the city’s Department of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said. According to department’s statistics, 18,732 couples tied the knot in the municipality last year, compared with 15,659 couples in 2010. As for the birthrate, the number of babies born reached 21,411, compared with 19,198 in 2010. As it is the Year of the Dragon, the department said it was expecting high birthrates for this year as well. The Social Affairs Bureau added it would offer financial rewards to couples who have children this year. Parents would be given a birth stipend of NT$6,000 per child and NT$10,000 to couples that have a third child, the bureau said, adding that before infants reach their first birthday, parents are entitled to a monthly subsidy of NT$3,000.
ENVIRONMENT
Trucks to get recorders
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said it is planning to install recorders on hundreds of garbage trucks nationwide as part of government efforts to crack down on environmental violations. Wu Tien-chi (吳天基), head of the Department of Waste Management, said that to reinforce a crackdown on violations, such as dropping cigarette butts or belching exhaust smoke, a total of 960 garbage trucks around Taiwan would be fitted with recorders in the initial stage. Meanwhile, EPA Minister Stephen Shen (沈世宏) encouraged residents to report environmental violations.
CROSS-STRAIT TIES
Ties to get closer: Zheng
China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Deputy Chairman Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中) predicted yesterday in Greater Tainan that cross-strait engagements would become even closer and wider, with many people from many sectors pitching in. Zheng said it was once “beyond the imagination” that 558 flights could fly directly across the Strait per week. After so many years of efforts, both sides now appreciate that peace and collaboration are the only options to end tensions and standoffs, he said. Zheng, who arrived in Taipei on Saturday, is visiting at the invitation of the National Policy Foundation, a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) think tank. His visit, primarily to southern Taiwan, comes less than a month after the Jan. 14 presidential and legislative elections. Prior to visiting Greater Tainan, he was in Greater Kaohsiung and Pingtung County over the weekend. Academics said his visit was mainly aimed at winning more trust from Taiwanese at the grassroots level, particularly those residing in southern Taiwan.
CRIME
Envoy offers condolences
Representative to the Philippines Raymond Wang (王樂生) expressed condolences on Sunday to the family of a Taiwanese woman living in the Southeast Asian country who was murdered there last month. The 29-year-old victim, surnamed Hsu (許), was robbed and shot in Manila’s Chinatown on Jan. 11. Her brother and father were also injured. According to a police investigation, the perpetrator was an active duty policeman. Wang said the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Manila had requested the country’s police to take the suspect into custody as soon as possible. He also urged the local government to install security monitoring systems to improve the city’s safety. The victim’s father, who is involved in the onion trade, has been based in the Philippines for several decades.
JUDICIARY
Chiayi tests ‘observer jury’
The Judicial Yuan held a briefing session in Chiayi City yesterday in preparation for a test run of a proposed “observer jury” system in the southern city. About 120 legal professionals and law experts attended the session, which was held at the Chiayi District Court. The “observer jury” system aims to allow the public to participate in the criminal trial process and enhance judiciary transparency. According to a draft bill released on Jan. 11 by the Judicial Yuan, the “observer jury” would apply to cases that involve offenses carrying a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment. However, the jury would only express their opinion and would not render a verdict, the draft bill states. The Judicial Yuan hopes the legislature will pass the bill this year, paving the way for its implementation next year. After Chiayi, the Shihlin District Court in Taipei has been selected to test the system.
MILITARY
Open islets: Kinmen
Kinmen County Commissioner Li Wo-shi (李沃士) yesterday again urged the military to conditionally open two islets — Dadan (大膽) and Erdan (二膽) — to the public to help boost tourism in the outlying islands. The two islets have long been military outposts that are off-limits to the public. Dadan covers an area of 0.79km2, while Erdan measures 0.28km2. In response, the Ministry of National Defense said that the Executive Yuan would discuss whether to open Dadan and Erdan to the public and would make the final decision on the matter. Li has called for the opening of the two islets to the general public on the condition that the military’s operations would not be affected.
‘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
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
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
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
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