CRIME
Shooting sentence upheld
The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a man who opened fire at an election-eve rally, killing one man and injuring Sean Lien (連勝文), the son of former vice president Lien Chan (連戰), must serve a life sentence. The ruling is final. The court confirmed a decision last year by the Taiwan High Court, which convicted Lin Cheng-wei (林正偉), 48, of attempted murder and illegal possession of firearms and sentenced him to life. Lin, who had a criminal record, was arrested at the scene after opening fire at a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rally in November 2010 in then-Taipei County. Lin said he intended to shoot a KMT candidate, with whom he had a personal dispute, but that he accidentally shot Sean Lien in the face. Sean Lien has long claimed that he was the real target. Huang Yun-sheng (黃運聖), who was in the crowd, was hit by the same bullet and died on the spot.
CRIME
Harace Lin released on bail
Harace Lin (林鴻明), the former chairman of Taipei Financial Center Corp, was released on NT$100 million (US$3.4 million) bail last night, one day after prosecutors indicted him for allegedly “hollowing out” a listed company, Jin Shang Development, more than a decade ago. The Taipei District Prosecutors Office on Wednesday demanded a prison sentence of 12 years for Lin on charges of violating the Securities and Exchange Act (證券交易法) and the Business Entity Accounting Act (商業會計法), as well as committing forgery and money laundering. Lin allegedly obtained corporate loans of NT$1.8 billion from the now-defunct China United Trust and Investment Corp in 1999 and put up several tracts of land as collateral. He did not repay the loans. China United Trust and Investment Corp then sold the land for NT$1.2 billion to land development companies.
ENERGY
French nuclear expert to visit
The former chairman of France’s independent agency regulating nuclear safety is to visit Taiwan next week to discuss nuclear power issues with local officials, the French representative office in Taiwan said. Andre-Claude Lacoste, who stepped down as Nuclear Safety Authority chairman in November last year, is to meet with Atomic Energy Council officials during his visit from Tuesday through Thursday, the Bureau Francais de Taipei said. He is to attend a forum hosted by the council on Tuesday on the safety of nuclear power and give a talk. titled “New Challenges in Nuclear Safety from a Regulatory Perspective,” at National Taiwan University in Taipei on Wednesday, the bureau said. Lacoste’s visit comes amid increasingly heated debate in recent weeks on whether the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), should begin operations when it is finished.
EDUCATION
NTNU to set up study center
National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) and Pennsylvania State University yesterday announced the establishment of an international research center to promote Chinese language learning. The Advanced Research Center for the Study of Learning Sciences, which will be set up at NTNU, will be devoted to three major fields — language science, science education and learning technology, university officials said. The research will examine how people recognize and memorize the Chinese language in order to identify those who find it more easy to learn Chinese, as well as to develop “smart classroom” systems that can automatically track students’ learning situations.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) on Friday laid out the Cabinet’s updated policy agenda and recapped the government’s achievements ahead of the one-year anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration. Cho said the government had made progress across a range of areas, including rebuilding Hualien, cracking down on fraud, improving pedestrian safety and promoting economic growth. “I hope the public will not have the impression that the Cabinet only asked the legislature to reconsider a bunch of legal amendments,” Cho said, calling the moves “necessary” to protect constitutional governance and the public’s interest. The Cabinet would work toward achieving its “1+7” plan, he said. The
Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) hosted a dinner in Taipei last night with key Taiwanese suppliers to celebrate the successful mass production of the company’s new Blackwell AI systems. Speaking to the media earlier yesterday, Huang thanked Nvidia’s Taiwanese partners for their contributions to the company’s ecosystem, while also sharing his plans to meet with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀). In response to rumors that Nvidia will launch a downgraded Hopper H20 chip for China in July, Huang dismissed the reports, saying, “That is not true.” He clarified that there
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