FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Wu discusses China on CBC
Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday in an interview on Canadian television said that democracies must unite to counter Chinese expansionism. China’s ambitions and actions, including its military activity in the Taiwan Strait, are intended to expand its influence and “undoubtedly a huge challenge to regional peace and stability,” he said on a Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) program, adding that he hopes the global community can deter China from using force against any country. China, through Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has learned how to launch possible attacks on Taiwan, he said, adding that Ukraine in turn has shown Taiwan how to leverage asymmetric warfare and international support against an adversary. Taiwan firmly supports Ukraine in its fight for sovereignty and freedom, he added.
CRIME
Man with fake bills nabbed
A 31-year-old man in Taoyuan was taken into custody yesterday morning on suspicions of currency counterfeiting and drug use, after police found fake money and a methamphetamine inhaler in his car. Police said a man surnamed Lee (李) was detained after he was seen driving erratically at about 3am. Officers at the scene determined that Lee was “acting suspiciously” and conducted a search of his person and the vehicle, finding a methamphetamine inhaler in the car. They found six forged NT$1,000 banknotes on Lee’s person and a further 121 counterfeit notes — all NT$1,000 bills with the same serial number, HR484268XD — in the car’s glovebox. The public should be alert for counterfeit bills as the Lunar New Year approaches, and to report any suspicious notes to the police, they said.
UKRAINE
Taipei donates computers
Taiwan on Sunday sent digital devices and portable power generator equipment to a high school in the Ukrainian city of Lviv as part of Taipei’s efforts to help the war-torn country rebuild its teaching environment, the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) said in a statement yesterday. The donation to Grono High School included laptops and tablets in a collaboration between MODA, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwanese computer maker Acer Inc and Ukrainian Catholic University, MODA said. In a recorded address to the donation ceremony, Digital Affairs Minister Audrey Tang (唐鳳) expressed hope that the partnership allows Taiwan and Ukraine to continue cooperation given their shared values. Tang visited Lithuania last week to attend the first Free Digital Democracy Dialogue, jointly organized by MODA and two Lithuanian institutions. She extended an invitation to Ukraine to attend the dialogue next year.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Fireworks stash nets fine
The owner of a Vietnamese eatery in Taoyuan has been fined NT$300,000 for contravening firework storage rules after 166kg of firecrackers and fireworks were seized from the store, the Taoyuan City Fire Department said on Sunday. Acting on a call alerting them to the situation, fire officials on Saturday attended the eatery near Taoyuan Station and seized the pyrotechnics, which weighed nearly seven times the permitted amount under the Firework and Firecracker Management Act (爆竹煙火管理條例). The law allows no more than 25kg of fireworks and firecrackers to be stored at a location, with fines ranging from NT$60,000 to NT$300,000 for each contravention. Taoyuan fire authorities said they imposed the maximum fine on the shop owner.
Four factors led to the declaration of a typhoon day and the cancelation of classes yesterday, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. Work and classes were canceled across Taiwan yesterday as Typhoon Krathon was forecast to make landfall in the southern part of the country. However, northern Taiwan had only heavy winds during the day and rain in the evening, leading some to criticize the cancelation. Speaking at a Taipei City Council meeting yesterday, Chiang said the decision was made due to the possibility of landslides and other problems in mountainous areas, the need to avoid a potentially dangerous commute for those
There are 77 incidents of Taiwanese travelers going missing in China between January last year and last month, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) said. More than 40 remain unreachable, SEF Secretary-General Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) said on Friday. Most of the reachable people in the more than 30 other incidents were allegedly involved in fraud, while some had disappeared for personal reasons, Luo said. One of these people is Kuo Yu-hsuan (郭宇軒), a 22-year-old Taiwanese man from Kaohsiung who went missing while visiting China in August. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office last month said in a news statement that he was under investigation
PRO-CHINA SLOGANS: Two DPP members criticized police officers’ lack of action at the scene, saying that law enforcement authorities should investigate the incident Chinese tourists allegedly interrupted a protest in Taipei on Tuesday held by Hong Kongers, knocked down several flags and shouted: “Taiwan and Hong Kong belong to China.” Hong Kong democracy activists were holding a demonstration as Tuesday was China’s National Day. A video posted online by civic group Hong Kong Outlanders shows a couple, who are allegedly Chinese, during the demonstration. “Today is China’s National Day, and I won’t allow the displaying of these flags,” the male yells in the video before pushing some demonstrators and knocking down a few flagpoles. Radio Free Asia reported that some of the demonstrators
China is attempting to subsume Taiwanese culture under Chinese culture by promulgating legislation on preserving documents on ties between the Minnan region and Taiwan, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday. China on Tuesday enforced the Fujian Province Minnan and Taiwan Document Protection Act to counter Taiwanese cultural independence with historical evidence that would root out misleading claims, Chinese-language media outlet Straits Today reported yesterday. The act is “China’s first ad hoc local regulations in the cultural field that involve Taiwan and is a concrete step toward implementing the integrated development demonstration zone,” Fujian Provincial Archives deputy director Ma Jun-fan (馬俊凡) said. The documents
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