TRAVEL
Japan program to start
From next month, Taiwanese would be able to shorten wait times while passing through airport checks in Japan under a new program introduced by the Japanese government. The program was trialed in February for Taiwanese departing from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. Japanese public broadcaster NHK has previously reported that the new preclearance program aimed to allow foreign travelers to finish some screenings at their departure airport’s terminals and undergo simple confirmation procedures upon arrival. The new rules were designed to attract more tourists, it said. The program would initially apply to holders of Taiwanese passports who departed from Taiwan and could be extended to travelers from other places based on results of the pilot program, it said.
Photo: Taipei Times
CRIME
Workers released on bail
Five construction workers have been released on bail ranging from NT$50,000 to NT$600,000 following questioning over their roles in a deadly fire at an under-construction PX Mart processing center in Taichung on Thursday, prosecutors said yesterday. The five — an on-site general manager assigned by an air-conditioning company and employees from a construction firm — were among 24 people summoned for questioning on Friday who have been identified as potential defendants, the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office said. Before the fire started, workers installing air-conditioning piping were allegedly cutting flooring using an oxyacetylene flame without implementing proper fire safety precautions, prosecutors said. Supervisors also failed to enforce safety measures, resulting in sparks igniting polystyrene boards, which caused the fire, prosecutors said. The workers are suspected of offenses including negligent homicide and negligent injury. The blaze claimed nine lives and injured eight. Citing provisions of the Building Act (建築法), the Taichung City Government ordered work to be suspended at the site and fined the contractor and the supervisor. Seven of the people who died were Taiwanese and two were migrant workers, including one undocumented Vietnamese worker, Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) said.
DIPLOMACY
Paraguay spy case probed
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday said that it is cooperating with an investigation into a vehicle registered to Huawei Technologies Co that is believed to have surveiled Taiwan’s ambassador in Paraguay. Embassy staff in Asuncion in October reported that people in a parked vehicle appeared to be spying on the residence of Ambassador to Paraguay Jose Han (韓志正). The embassy immediately notified the police, who later said that the vehicle was registered to the Chinese telecommunications firm’s Paraguay office, the ministry said. Paraguayan media reported that the vehicle was parked outside Han’s residence for about two hours, while a man in it photographed Han’s residence and pointed an object at the home that appeared to be an electronic monitoring device, possibly to interfere with or intercept digital signals from the residence. When police arrived and approached the van, the driver immediately sped off, the reports said. The driver was later identified as a 62-year-old Huawei employee named Dionisio Duarte. Paraguayan police said the other person in the van was “a man with oriental features,” Paraguayan media reported.
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
ENHANCING DETERRENCE: Stationing the missiles in Kyushu would allow Japan to cover waters near Taiwan and China’s coastal areas without any logistical difficulties Japan is to deploy extended-range anti-ship missiles at a Ground Self-Defense Force base in Kumamoto to bolster its defenses, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Saturday. The upgraded Type 12 surface-to-ship missile, with a range of more than 1,000km, would be capable of striking targets in the Taiwan Strait and along China’s coast. Originally limited to a few hundred kilometers, the Type 12 was recently modernized ahead of schedule. Deployment, initially slated for next year, has been accelerated after the upgrade was completed sooner than expected, the newspaper said. Stationing the missiles in Kyushu would allow Japan to cover waters near Taiwan and
The presence of Taiwanese politicians at China’s military parade tomorrow would send the wrong message to Beijing and the international community about Taiwan’s sovereignty and democracy, a national security official said yesterday. China is to hold the parade tomorrow to mark the 80th anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II. By bringing together leaders of “anti-West” governments such as Russia, North Korea, Iran and Belarus, the parade aims to project a symbolic image of an alliance that is cohesive and unbending against Western countries, the national security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu
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