CRIME
Three held over sex trade
Three Taiwanese were on Wednesday indicted for allegedly recruiting and sending women from Taiwan to the US and other countries to engage in prostitution. The suspects — two men surnamed Lin (林) and Chen (陳), and a woman surnamed Lin (林) — allegedly used social media to recruit women to work overseas as prostitutes, escorts or bar hostesses by promising them high earnings in a short time, the indictment issued by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. The three booked the womens’ flights, and arranged their visas and accommodations, it said. The trio arranged for about 50 women aged 25 to 35 to travel to the US, Canada and other countries to engage in prostitution from 2018 to early last year, investigators said. Prosecutors charged the suspects with breaches of sexual morality under the Criminal Code. The maximum sentence for the charge is five years in prison plus a NT$100,000 fine.
DIPLOMACY
Allies urged to back UN bid
The government would again ask its diplomatic allies to voice support for the inclusion of Taiwan in the UN, either by speaking up at the General Assembly or sending letters to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secretary-General Lily Hsu (徐儷文) said yesterday. The UN General Assembly is to take place from Sept. 14 to 21. Taipei’s UN bid this year has three main appeals: demanding that the UN resolve the “inappropriate exclusion of Taiwan’s 23.5 million people from the UN system”; calling on the UN to change its “discriminatory policy” against Taiwanese passport holders and journalists from visiting UN headquarters to cover UN-related activities; and insisting that the UN takes steps to ensure that Taiwan has the right to participate in “an equal and dignified manner” in meetings, mechanisms and activities related to the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Hsu added. As part of Taiwan’s appeal, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) has published an opinion piece titled “Reimagining a More Resilient UN System — with Taiwan in It” in international media, Hsu added. Taiwan’s representative office in New York City, where the UN’s headquarters is, would set up a Web page dedicated to promoting Taiwan’s inclusion in the UN before the assembly begins this year, she added.
DIPLOMACY
Belize lauded on anniversary
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday congratulated Belize, one of the nation’s 15 diplomatic allies, on its 40th anniversary of independence and thanked the Caribbean ally for its consistent support of Taiwan in the international community over the years. In a video call with Belize Prime Minister John Briceno, Wu extended congratulations on behalf of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and the people of Taiwan on the 40th anniversary of Belize’s independence from the UK, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a news release. Taiwan looks forward to continuing to work with Belize, one of its important diplomatic allies in the Caribbean region, to strengthen the bilateral partnership for the mutual benefit and well-being of the two peoples, Wu said. In particular, Taiwan would maintain its efforts to help Belize combat COVID-19, revive its economy and boost its national development, he said. Wu also thanked Belize for consistently voicing its support for Taiwan’s participation in the international community, saying that he hoped Briceno would continue to do so in the years to come.
UNDER WATCH: Taiwan will have to establish a standardized nucleic acid testing method to identify the virus and monitor its spread, the CDC said The Langya henipavirus, which can be transmitted from animals to humans, has been discovered in China, with 35 human infections reported so far, Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said, adding that the nation would establish a nucleic acid testing method to identify the virus. A study titled “A Zoonotic Henipavirus in Febrile Patients in China” that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday said that a new henipavirus associated with a fever-causing human illness was identified in China. The study said an investigation identified 35 patients with acute infection of the Langya henipavirus in China’s Shandong
MISSILE PATHS: Certain information on the Chinese missile fire was not disclosed to maintain secrecy over military intelligence-gathering capabilities, the MND said Military experts yesterday speculated on the implication of the government’s tight-lipped response and the lack of air-raid sirens during the first day of China’s military drills the previous day. On Thursday, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched 11 Dongfeng-series ballistic missiles into waters north, east and south of Taiwan, a day after US House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s departure from the country, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. The Japanese Ministry of Defense said that China fired nine missiles toward Taiwan, including four that flew over Taiwan proper. However, China’s exhibition of force failed to terrorize the local populace, because
If any war were to break out between the US and China, one trigger might be the increasingly frequent fighter jet encounters near Taiwan. Almost every day, Taiwanese fighter pilots hop in their US-made F-16s to intercept Chinese warplanes screaming past their territory. The encounters probe the nation’s defenses and force the pilots on both sides to avoid mistakes that could lead to a crisis that spins out of control. “I didn’t know whether they would fire at me,” said retired colonel Mountain Wang, recounting a tense five-minute confrontation he had with Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) jets more than a decade
INCREASINGLY EMBOLDENED: China can no longer be dismissed as inexperienced, demonstrating an ability to coordinate land and sea missile systems, an expert said Beijing’s largest-ever exercises around Taiwan have offered essential clues into its plans for a grueling blockade in the event of an attack on Taiwan, and revealed an increasingly emboldened Chinese military, experts said. The visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi — second in line to the presidency — sparked outrage from Beijing, which launched vast military maneuvers around the nation, even at the risk of partially exposing its plans to the US and its Asian allies. Mobilizing fighter planes, helicopters and warships, the drills aim to simulate a blockade of Taiwan and include practicing an “attack on
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