ECONOMY
FTA talks to start ‘soon’
Taiwan will officially begin free-trade talks with New Zealand “in the near future,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, following the recent completion of a joint feasibility study into a bilateral economic cooperation agreement. However, a specific timetable for the talks was not mentioned in the press statement released by the ministry. “The ministry hopes that negotiations will be smooth and bring concrete results,” it said, adding that the pact is bound to benefit and further expand Taiwan-New Zealand economic relations. In an interview earlier this month, Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said the highly anticipated talks could be launched “by the end of May.”
HORTICULTURE
Orchids go to Chelsea
Taiwan will present locally produced orchids with a dragon theme at the Chelsea Flower Show in London to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee and the upcoming London Olympic Games, according to a Taiwanese orchid association. Some orchid petals will look like the golden scales of a dragon, said Tseng Chun-pi (曾俊弼), secretary of the Taiwan Orchid Growers Association and head of Taiwan’s delegation to the show. Small sky lanterns wrapped in traditional Hakka flower cloth will accompany the dragon orchids as symbols of the country, Tseng said. “The beautiful orchids are blessings we have brought from Taiwan,” he said, adding that 20,000 orchids of 50 varieties will be presented this year. The 99th annual Chelsea Flower Show, recognized as the Oscars of the horticultural world, will run from Tuesday until May 26. The show has been a success in showcasing Taiwan’s orchid industry: Moth orchid exports to the UK increased from US$980,000 in 2009 to US$2.53 million in 2010, with the figure rising to US$3.52 million last year.
CRIME
Taiwanese cleared of fraud
Philippine prosecutors yesterday dismissed a case against 72 Taiwanese allegedly involved in a fraud ring. Davao City prosecutors said there was “insufficient evidence” to prove that the suspects used electronic equipment seized in a police raid on illegal telecommunications operations. Prosecutors also threw out charges leveled by police such as breaching the Philippines’ Electronic Commerce Act and illegal possession of firearms. Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau and Philippine police authorities apprehended the 72 Taiwanese suspects, along with six Chinese suspects, in an April 18 raid on three phone fraud operation sites in Davao City. The six Chinese suspects have since been released. Immigration authorities in the Philippines said they would seek to have the Taiwanese nationals deported.
‘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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