CRIME
Chinese boat, crew detained
Authorities have detained a Chinese fishing vessel and its crew for poaching in Taiwan’s exclusive economic waters, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The Minping (閩平) fishing boat carrying 14 crew, including its captain, was caught trespassing and operating illegally 43 nautical miles (80km) west of the Port of Taichung by a coast guard patrol vessel at 2:12pm on Sunday, the CGA said. The boat ignored orders to stop for inspection and attempted to flee, but was intercepted, it said. Coast guard officers boarded the ship and an inspection found 3 tonnes of fish that were later tossed into the sea. The vessel has been impounded at the Port of Taichung and its crew detained by the CGA, which said the case would be handled in accordance with the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例).
CRIME
Man held for pre-rally threat
A 39-year-old man is being investigated after getting onto Taipei mayoral candidate Chen Shih-chung’s (陳時中) campaign vehicle with a knife and trying to hurt himself before a rally for Chen in the capital, police said on Sunday. The man, surnamed Liu (劉), climbed onto the empty vehicle, took a microphone and tried to speak at 1pm, about 30 minutes before the Democratic Progressive Party candidate’s rally began, the Taipei Police Department said. Liu also tried to hurt himself with the knife while talking, but was soon pepper-sprayed and overpowered by six police officers, the department said. Liu appeared to be mentally unstable, police said, adding that he was hoping to gain attention regarding his “solutions” to US-China issues. Liu is being held and investigated for possession of hazardous items without justifiable reasons, police said.
TOURISM
Miaoli to open railway park
A NT$1 billion (US$31.2 million) railway park in Miaoli County is to open next year, the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said on Sunday. Work on an exhibition room and leisure area consisting of restaurants and souvenir shops would be finished by the end of this year, the TRA said. Work on the main attractions of the 19,140m2 park, next to the Miaoli Railway Station, would be finished next year and would include art installations, a museum and a display of more than 10 diesel and electric locomotives, it said. The agency said it hoped the park could one day be as popular as the Railway Museum in Japan’s Saitama Prefecture and spark interest in Taiwan’s railway history and local tourism.
TRAVEL
Tigerair adds Da Nang route
Tigerair Taiwan yesterday said it would launch a route between Taoyuan and Da Nang in central Vietnam on Dec. 24 as part of its efforts to boost its presence in Southeast Asian. The launch of the Taoyuan-Da Nang route marks the carrier’s first foray into the fast-growing Vietnamese market, Tigerair Taiwan said in a statement. It would start by offering round-trip flights every Wednesday and Saturday, it said. Bookings for a special untaxed ticket costing NT$1,299 for a single trip on the route would open at 10am today until 11:59pm tomorrow, for departures between Dec. 24 and March 25, it said. An untaxed NT$1,599 ticket for a one-way trip between Taoyuan and Don Mueang International Airport (Bangkok), and NT$1,099 for a one-way tickets from Taoyuan to Palawan or Boracay in the Philippines are also being offered, it said.
‘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 High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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