Six people involved in clashes related to a Chinese music festival last year were sentenced to between 20 days in detention and jail terms of five months, all of which could be commuted to fines, the Taipei District Court said yesterday.
The six men included Chang Wei (張瑋), son of Chinese Unity Promotion Party (CUPP) founder Chang An-le (張安樂) — a former gang leader also known as the “White Wolf.”
Chang Wei was given 40 days in detention on charges of attacking and injuring several students who protested the holding of the “Sing! China: Shanghai-Taipei Music Festival” at the athletics field of National Taiwan University on Sept. 24 last year, the court said.
Lee Po-chang (李柏璋), a staunch pro-Taiwan independence advocate, received the same punishment as Chang for attacking and causing facial injuries to a CUPP member surnamed Yang (楊), who was attending the festival.
Lee was also accused by prosecutors of breaking Yang’s glasses during a scuffle between pro-unification and pro-independence crowds, after the festival was canceled due to the protest.
Hu Ta-kang (胡大剛), who assaulted a student that he thought was trying to help Lee, was sentenced to five months in jail for hitting the student with an extendable baton and to 20 days in detention on charges of intimidation for shouting at Lee’s girlfriend.
Three other individuals were sentenced to detentions ranging from 40 to 70 days, the court said, adding that the verdicts can be appealed.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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