SOCIETY
Ex-defense minister dies
Former minister of national defense and army commander Chiang Chung-ling (蔣仲苓) died of heart failure at the age of 93 on Wednesday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. Chiang died at Taipei Veterans General Hospital, having spent almost seven weeks in a ward for the terminally ill, the ministry said on Facebook. Chiang, who retired as a three-star general, had been admitted to the hospital on Jan. 30 with heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and infections, the ministry said. A ministry spokesman paid tribute to Chiang’s contributions to the nationalization of the armed forces and overhauling military affairs. Chiang, who was born in Zhejiang Province, China, served as defense minister from December 1994 to January 1999, as the nation was undergoing democratization under then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝).
CHARITY
Book sale set for TAS
The Taipei American School’s (TAS) Orphanage Club is to hold its annual book sale tomorrow from 10am to 5pm in the school’s forecourt and lobby. The club has collected thousands of books, as well as magazines, comic books and games. The books include best-sellers, classics, biographies, children’s and young adult titles, English-teaching books and cookbooks. Most of the money raised from the event is to provide funding for orphans and other children in Taiwan, but 20 percent of the proceeds will be given to Hope through Health, a US-based charity that provides financial and technical healthcare assistance to poor communities in Togo and other countries. Admission to the book fair is free. The school is at 800 Zhongshan N Rd Sec 6, Tianmu (天母).
‘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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