MILITARY
Koo outlines RTX refund
The amount that US defense contractor RTX Corp overcharged Taiwan for weapons would be fully compensated, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday, reiterating a ministry statement from a day earlier. The overpricing case involving RTX — formerly known as Raytheon — was voluntarily investigated by US authorities to crack down on improprieties in the US arms sales system, Koo said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting. After US authorities informed Taiwan of the investigation’s results, judicial proceedings began and should result in the amount of the overcharges being returned to Taiwan, he said. Asked about the amount of funds involved, whether the overcharged funds would be fully returned and when the US notified Taiwan of the case, Koo said all of the money would be returned, but he declined to provide further details on the other questions. However, he did say that the major sale on which the case is based occurred in 2013 and that because the case involved other countries as well, Taiwan benchmarked the prices with the other parties. Yi Media on Tuesday reported that US arms sales to Taiwan might involve “international fraud.” Koo said Yi Media’s report portrayed Taiwan as being “a person taken advantage of.” Such a description was part of an effort to support an “America skepticism theory” that does not reflect reality, he said.
Photo: Lin Che-yuan, Taipei Times
ISRAEL
Office helps duo leave
Taiwan’s representative office in Israel said it helped two Taiwanese leave the country by land on Thursday amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. The office said it received a telephone call on Wednesday from two Taiwanese who were visiting Israel and wanted to leave, but were unable to due to flight cancelations following Iranian airstrikes. The office promptly arranged a vehicle to help the two leave Israel, it said. The duo arrived in Jordan earlier on Thursday and were waiting for a flight back to Taiwan, it said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs previously said that as of late August there were 266 Taiwanese in Israel. Meanwhile, the ministry said that Taiwan’s representative office in Jordan, which is also responsible for matters in Lebanon, has reported that one Taiwanese student previously in Lebanon left the Middle Eastern country on a Chinese-government-arranged cargo ship late last month, the ministry said. There are five Taiwanese in Lebanon, the ministry said. Three have informed the office that they would return to Taiwan early this month, it added. The Jordan office would continue to keep in touch with the five remaining in Lebanon to offer assistance should they need any, the ministry said.
CRIME
Cannabis suspects indicted
Ten people, including two brothers who made a living by producing tea, have been indicted for growing cannabis in Nantou County, Taichung police told a news conference on Thursday. Taichung police said that the brothers, identified by their surname, Lin (林), as well as eight others, were arrested in June and their cannabis-growing operation smashed. Police said that they received a tip-off that the Lins had allegedly started growing cannabis at their home in Lugu Township (鹿谷) earlier this year. During a raid of the residence, 51 cannabis plants, as well as tools and equipment for producing the illegal drug, were seized, police said.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
Taiwan’s Liu Ming-i, right, who also goes by the name Ray Liu, poses with a Chinese Taipei flag after winning the gold medal in the men’s physique 170cm competition at the International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation Asian Championship in Ajman, United Arab Emirates, yesterday.
CASE: Prosecutors have requested heavy sentences, citing a lack of remorse and the defendants’ role in ‘undermining the country’s democratic foundations’ Five people affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), including senior staff from the party’s Taipei branch, were indicted yesterday for allegedly forging thousands of signatures to recall two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. Those indicted include KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹), secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿) and secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said in a news release. Prosecutors said the three were responsible for fabricating 5,211 signature forms — 2,537 related to the recall of DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and 2,674 for DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) — with forged entries accounting for
RSS