CRIME
Spy’s conviction upheld
The Taiwan High Court yesterday handed down a 17-month sentence, suspended for five years, to Lai Kun-chieh (賴坤玠), who was convicted of spying for China. In the third retrial of the case, Lai was also ordered to pay a NT$200,000 fine during his probation period. The ruling can be appealed. The court ruling noted that Lai was arrested in May 2011 while handing over a bribe of almost US$20,000 to a former schoolmate who was an army officer, surnamed Tsao (曹), who had tipped off authorities about Lai. The court said Lai had been approached by Chinese agents in February 2010 while he was working in China. After returning to Taiwan, Lai asked Tsao for secret information regarding technical specifications for missile systems.
DIPLOMACY
New envoys in Taipei
Two new European envoys took up their posts in Taipei earlier this month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Slovakia’s new representative is Michal Kovac, a senior diplomat who took up his duties on Aug. 14, the ministry said. Kovac has expressed hopes of deepening ties in the areas of trade, technology, culture and education, it said. Taiwan and Slovakia established reciprocal representative offices 10 years ago and recently signed agreements on e-government cooperation, avoiding double taxation, and other matters, the ministry said. Henrik Persson took office as Sweden’s top envoy on Aug. 15, the ministry said.
CROSS-STRAIT TIES
More flights to Urumqi
The number of flights from Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport to Urumqi, China, will increase from three a week to six, as China Airlines (CAL) expands code-sharing services with Guangdong-based China Southern Airlines, CAL said yesterday. Increasing the number of flights to and from Urumqi will allow better operations flexibility for both airlines, it said. Both airlines are members of the SkyTeam Alliance, one of the world’s largest airline alliances. Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region, is the ninth city serviced under the cooperation since the two carriers started code-sharing in 2010. CAL, which operates 33 out of the 68 shared flights, said it aims to better promote the Taoyuan-Urumqi route, which was inaugurated in June. The route has proven popular, with seat occupation consistently topping 70 percent, the airline said.
CRIME
Sex trafficking ring busted
Police and immigration officers yesterday busted a human trafficking ring and arrested 11 suspects on suspicion of forcing foreign women into prostitution. The officers broke into a building in Chiayi with a forklift and rescued 10 Indonesian women who were being held captive there, the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office said. Ten of the suspects arrested are Taiwanese and the other is an Indonesian woman. They were picked up in several locations in Chiayi and Greater Tainan, the office said. A gas gun, account books and six packets of drugs were also seized in the raids. The office said the traffickers were charging customers between NT$3,000 and NT$5,000 for sex. Indonesian women working in northern Taiwan who had run away from their jobs were recruited to work as hostesses by a member of the ring, an Indonesian herself, but once the women arrived in Chiayi the gang kept them locked in a residence, the office said. The gang used drugs to keep the women compliant, it said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
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