FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Tainan, US city set up ties
Tainan yesterday established a sister city relationship with the US city of New Orleans to enhance cooperation in the areas of education, culture and tourism, city officials said. Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell signed an agreement at a virtual ceremony. Huang praised New Orleans’ rich cultural history, and said he has invited Cantrell to visit Tainan in 2024, when the city is to mark its 400th anniversary. Under the pact, Tainan’s National Cheng Kung University and Xavier University of Louisiana are to also be paired as “sister colleges,” Huang said. A Tainan City Government news release quoted Cantrell as saying New Orleans held events in 2019 to mark the 40th anniversary of the US’ Taiwan Relations Act, and said the cities’ agreement is indicative of deepening US-Taiwan ties.
SOCIETY
Military truck hits mom, kid
A military truck hit a scooter on a main road in New Taipei City yesterday morning, killing the scooter’s driver and her six-year-old daughter, police said. The two vehicles were both driving in the same direction on Jieshou Road in Sansia District (三峽), but the truck driver, surnamed Chen (陳), 27, took a right turn without noticing the scooter to its right, knocked the scooter to the ground, and then ran it over with its back tire, Sansia Precinct police said. The 43-year-old mother and her daughter suffered a cardiac arrest and were pronounced dead in hospital, police said. The Sixth Army Command issued a statement expressing regret for the incident and condolences to the family of the victims. It said top officials would visit the family of the victims and that it would cooperate with a police investigation.
CRIME
Denise Ho wins damage suit
The Taipei District Court on Monday ordered a man who threw paint on Hong Kong singer and democracy campaigner Denise Ho (何韻詩) in Taipei three years ago to pay her NT$400,000 in compensation. Ho was doused in red paint by a masked man during an event in September 2019 in support of Hong Kong’s democracy movement. Police identified the man as Hu Chih-wei (胡志偉), a member of the China Unification Promotion Party. Prosecutors in June 2020 brought criminal charges against the man and 10 other people accused of involvement in the attack. The district court in January only found Hu guilty and sentenced him to three months in prison, which could be commuted to a NT$90,000 fine. The High Court in July upheld the verdict in a final ruling. However, Ho filed a civil lawsuit and the district court on Monday awarded her damages. The ruling can be appealed.
ENTERTAINMENT
Vive Le Cirque coming
Viva Le Cirque is to stage five circus shows in Taipei from Feb. 3 to 5, promoter KHAM Ticket said in a statement on Monday. The shows are family events featuring diverse elements, such as drama, juggling and acrobatics, as well as clowns to bring audiences some laughs, it said. Aside from traditional circus tricks, Viva Le Cirque challenges how people imagine the circus experience by adding laser programming to its show, KHAM said. Star performers include world juggling champion Gabriel Estrada of Costa Rica and the Malevo Argentinian Gaucho Act that performed on America’s Got Talent, as well as performing artists from Cirque du Soleil and other renowned troupes, it said. Tickets went on sale yesterday on the KHAM Ticket platform and at Hi-Life and OK Mart convenience stores.
SELF-RELIANCE: Taiwan would struggle to receive aid in the event of an invasion, so it must prepare to ‘hold its own’ for the first 70 days of a war, a defense expert said Taiwan should strengthen infrastructure, stock up on reserves and step up efforts to encourage Taiwanese to fight against an enemy, legislators and experts said on Tuesday last week. The comments sought to summarize what the nation should learn from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has exceeded 300 days, since Feb. 24 last year. Institute of National Defense and Security Research fellow Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said that the war in Ukraine highlighted the importance of being ready for war. Taiwan’s development of an “asymmetrical warfare” doctrine and extending mandatory conscription to one year is a good start to preparation of defense against a
The Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday said it would delay the lifting of the indoor mask mandate, citing public health considerations and ongoing discussions on how the policy should be implemented. Earlier this week, Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC’s spokesman, said officials from several ministries were working on the policy and an announcement would be made yesterday. However, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝), who heads the CECC, yesterday said that the policy was still under review. Wang said its implementation would be “delayed slightly” due to three main factors. First, the center
END OF SERIES: As the first generation of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines are set to expire, the CECC would no longer offer them to children younger than four years old The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported the nation’s first case of a person infected with the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant of SARS-CoV-2. The Taiwanese man in his 20s arrived from Canada on Jan. 22, said Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞), who is deputy head of the CECC’s medical response division. He tested positive after reporting having a runny nose and muscle soreness while in airport quarantine, Lo said. The XBB.1.5 subvariant is the dominant strain in the US, but there is no evidence to suggest that it causes more severe illness than other Omicron subvariants, he said,
NORMALIZING TIES: The delegation led by the KMT’s Johnny Chiang is to meet with British lawmakers, think tanks and business groups to discuss developments A legislative delegation led by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) arrived in the UK yesterday to rally support for Taiwan’s bid to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). Chiang heads the Legislative Yuan’s Taiwan-UK Interparliamentary Amity Association. The delegation also includes KMT legislators Ma Wen-chun (馬文君), Wen Yu-hsia (溫玉霞), Wu Sz-huai (吳斯懷), Sandy Yu (游毓蘭) and Wu I-ding (吳怡玎). The group is to meet with British lawmakers Alicia Kearns, who chairs the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee; Tobias Ellwood, who chairs the House Defence Select Committee; and Bob Stewart, who cochairs the
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