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
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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