DIPLOMACY
US journalists ‘welcome’
US journalists expelled by China are welcome to set up shop in Taiwan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. Beijing ordered the expulsion of 13 journalists from the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal earlier this month as part of a spat over media freedoms with the US. Wu said on Twitter that the journalists would be warmly received on the other side of the Taiwan Strait. “I’d like to welcome you to be stationed in Taiwan — a country that is a beacon of freedom and democracy,” Wu wrote. “You’ll find people here greeting you with open arms & lots of genuine smiles.”
WEATHER
Cooler weather forecast
Temperatures today would be similar to yesterday’s throughout Taiwan, but without rain, the Central Weather Bureau said, adding that the weather would gradually become warmer from Tuesday. A front passed through Taiwan and northeasterly winds resulted in a noticeable drop in temperatures yesterday, with lows ranging between 15°C and 19°C across the country and showers or thundershowers in the northern half of Taiwan, the bureau said. Beginning on Wednesday, northeasterly winds and a cloud and moisture system from southern China would approach Taiwan and again reduce temperatures, in particular in northern and eastern Taiwan, the bureau forecast. The cool weather is likely to last through the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday from Thursday to Sunday, it said.
CRIME
Vietnamese escapees caught
Six Vietnamese who escaped from a Taichung facility have been tracked down and arrested, with the case now under investigation, authorities said on Friday. The six were among 31 Vietnamese arrested on a Taiwanese fishing boat in waters off Pingtung County on Saturday last week, the Coast Guard Administration’s Investigation Branch said. Two Taiwanese crew members were also detained by local prosecutors for suspected involvement in people smuggling. After questioning, the Vietnamese were sent to different quarantine facilities in Taichung, but on Monday night, six escaped from the facility where they were being held. On Friday, coast guard investigators said that four of the Vietnamese were tracked down and arrested in Taipei and Taoyuan on Wednesday, while the remaining two were found in Nantou County and Taichung the next day.
CRIME
Ex-judge, son sentenced
The Taipei District Court on Thursday gave a former judge and his son, who were accused of renting a cargo ship to smuggle anthracite from North Korea to Vietnam, suspended sentences for forgery. The court sentenced former judge Chiang Kuo-hua (江國華) to one year in prison, suspended for five years, and fined him NT$1 million (US$33,073) to be paid within four years. His son, Chiang Heng (江衡), received separate sentences of six and seven months, also suspended for five years, and a NT$500,000 fine, while their alleged co-conspirator, surnamed Lu (呂), was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for four years, with the choice of paying a fine. In 2017, Chiang and his son hired an intermediary to rent a cargo ship, which they loaded with coal at an unnamed North Korean port, investigators said. The pair then turned off the vessel’s tracking device and traveled to Vietnam, where they used a falsified certificate of origin and sailing records to resell the cargo, they said.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all