CRIME
HK pair repatriated
Two young women from Hong Kong who trashed their hotel rooms earlier this year were repatriated after completing their jail sentences. The 20-year-old and 19-year-old made headlines earlier this year after leaving a trail of trashed rooms, false identities and graffiti — including “Taiwan is China” — and stealing a television from one hotel. The pair were arrested in March at a budget hotel in Greater Tainan. They were sentenced in May to five-month terms after trials at the Tainan District Court and the Taipei District Court for theft, embezzlement and forgery. One was also handed a combined penal detention — a sentence for lighter crimes — of 120 days, while the other received 130 days. They entered Yilan Prison on June 17 before being transferred to the immigrant holding center in the middle of last month. By law, they will not be allowed to re-enter the country within five years.
TRAVEL
Thai visa offer popular
More than 200 people lined up before noon on Monday at the Thailand Trade and Economic Office in Taipei to take advantage of a free-visa offer that ends on Friday. The crowd was drawn by the chance to save the NT$1,200 that Taiwanese have to pay for a tourist visa to the kingdom. Bangkok launched the free visa as part of its efforts to attract tourists after months of political turmoil in the kingdom ended earlier this year. The trade office said it had received about 1,300 applications per day since the program began on Aug. 9, an 85 percent increase over the number of applications received in July. Tourism Authority of Thailand statistics show 187,662 Taiwanese visiting the kingdom during the first six months of this year.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
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