POLITICS
Pension protester dies
A protester who had been in a coma after a fall during a protest last week against pension reform has died, police said yesterday. Miao Te-sheng (繆德生), a member of the veterans’ group 800 Heroes, was trying to climb the wall of a legislative building when he lost his footing and fell, hitting the ground head-first. Miao had no brain activity since he was hospitalized on the day of the protest, and family members at 3pm yesterday agreed to take him off life support. On Tuesday last week, protesters arrived at the Legislative Yuan on the corner of Taipei’s Qingdao E Road and Zhenjiang Street at 5:50am and started climbing the building’s outer wall to enter the compound. Police initially forced the protesters out of the compound, but several of them rammed the gate with a truck and made their way back inside. During the commotion Miao attempted to climb the side of one of the compound’s buildings to shout from a height. He reached the second floor when he slipped and fell. Police expressed their condolences over the loss and said an autopsy would be conducted at a later date.
WEATHER
Hot foehn winds rise
Dawu Village (大武) in Pingtung County experienced this year’s first wave of foehn winds — dry, strong and hot downslope winds — at about noon yesterday, with temperatures reaching their highest this year, the Central Weather Bureau said. The foehn winds started at 11:46am, causing temperatures to soar and hit 36.6°C at 12:28pm.The bureau attributed the foehn winds to strong southwest winds crossing the Central Mountain Range. The Taitung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station reminded farmers in the area to observe temperature control measures for agricultural products amid the hot weather.
TRADE
Taiwan seeks closer ties: VP
Taiwan will try harder to establish stronger and closer partnerships and expand cooperation with countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand, Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said yesterday. The nation will also seek the support of trade partners for its bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, Chen said at a closed-door meeting with participants from the just-concluded East Asia Peace Forum in Taipei. The agreement is to be signed on Thursday. He added that Taiwan hopes to broaden exchanges with those countries, especially on issues such as talent cultivation and trade growth.
GOVERNMENT
Hualien for envoys: MOFA
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday said the ministry plans to arrange a trip to Hualien for foreign ambassadors and representatives in Taiwan to promote tourism, in the wake of an earthquake that damaged parts of the eastern county last month. “We hope to arrange the trip as soon as possible as many foreign representatives have not visited Hualien, which is a beautiful place,” he said while touring the ministry’s headquarters in Taipei for the first time since assuming office on Monday last week. “The trip to Hualien will help them better understand Taiwan and will also be a significant step in helping the local tourism industry recover from the quake more quickly.” The magnitude 6 earthquake on Feb. 6 left 17 dead and 285 injured, with many subsequent aftershocks. One of the effects of the quake has been its impact on tourism, the county’s main source of income.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
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