SOCIETY
NT$19 snack wins millions
A NT$19 (US$0.65) receipt for a snack food product is one of the lucky winners of a NT$10 million special prize in the latest uniform invoice lottery, the 7-Eleven convenience store chain said yesterday. The Ministry of Finance on Sunday announced the winning numbers for the January-February uniform invoice lottery. One customer won the special prize after purchasing a NT$19 snack at a 7-Eleven outlet in Banciao District (板橋), New Taipei City, the chain said in a statement. The winning number for the special prize is 21735266. Every uniform invoice with that number receives a special prize of NT$10 million. Supermarket chain Pxmart and convenience store chain Family Mart said they had also each issued an invoice that won a NT$10 million special prize.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Tsai meets foreign official
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday met Guatemalan Minister of Foreign Affairs Sandra Jovel and said she hopes that bilateral exchanges could deepen the friendship between the two nations. Tsai commended Jovel, who assumed her post in August last year, for her contributions to enhance relations between the two nations, and said she hopes the minister would continue her support for Taiwan. Tsai said the two nations have been friends for 85 years and cooperate closely on healthcare, agricultural techniques and technology, and infrastructure development. Jovel is leading a five-member delegation to Taiwan until tomorrow. Also yesterday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) conferred a medal on behalf of the government on his Guatemalan counterpart in recognition of her support for Taiwan in the international arena, a statement issued by the ministry said.
POLITICS
Ma gets travel permit
The Presidential Office has approved an application by former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to travel to the US next month, office spokesman Sidney Lin (林鶴明) said on Sunday. Ma intends to visit the US from April 9 to 13, during which he is to give a speech at Stanford University, Lin said, adding that Ma’s application was reviewed based on the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法) and regulations governing restrictions by the Presidential Office on overseas travel by those involved in national secrets. It would be the fourth time Ma is to travel abroad since he stepped down in May 2016 after completing his second term in office. Ma flew to Malaysia in November 2016, and in February last year visited New York, Boston and Washington at the invitation of several US think tanks and academic organizations.
CRIME
Man arrested for extortion
Police on Sunday arrested a man in Taichung for allegedly attempting to extort money from the Chiayi City police earlier in the day with a bomb threat. The man, identified only by his surname, Wang, telephoned the bureau at about 2pm claiming he had placed a bomb in a women’s bathroom at the Chiayi high-speed railway station. Chiayi police said Wang demanded that the bureau pay him NT$1 million or he would detonate the bomb. After tracing the call to a hotel in Taichung, Chiayi police went to Taichung and contacted the local police. They arrested the 39-year-old at the hotel and took him back to Chiayi. They also checked to see if there was a bomb in one of the railway station’s restrooms, but did not find anything suspicious.
‘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 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
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
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