MILITARY
Boot camp passing rate high
A total of 5,277 conscripts serving since the start of the year have taken their boot camp tests, with 98.3 percent of them passing, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, citing Ministry of National Defense data. Military service for men was increased from four months to one year in January, with the aim of strengthening the country’s combat readiness in the face of threats from China. Those who failed the tests would not be entitled to the NT$10,000 monthly allowance and would only receive a basic monthly salary of NT$10,550, the ministry said. The military is mainly a volunteer force of about 215,000, with conscripts serving a supporting role. As of June, there were 152,885 active-duty voluntary military personnel in the armed forces.
Photo courtesy of the Penghu Defense Command via CNA
DIPLOMACY
MOFA official promoted
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) deputy spokesperson Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) has been named the ministry’s next spokesperson, the ministry said over the weekend. Hsiao is to replace outgoing spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健), who was named the country’s new representative to Poland last month. Hsiao is likely to assume the post after Liu leaves for Poland later this month or early next year. He joined the ministry in 2002, and was previously posted in Miami, Singapore and Austria before becoming deputy spokesman in 2022.
SOCIETY
Court rules on drone case
The Taoyuan District Court has found two men who repeatedly flew a drone near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport last year not guilty of endangering flight safety. Lien Yung-wang (連永旺) and Huang Kai-hui (黃凱暉) operated an uncrewed aerial vehicle in the vicinity of the airport at least 10 times between June 24 and July 25 last year, the ruling said. However, there was insufficient evidence to prove the pair’s conduct met the requirements for criminal conviction under the Civil Aviation Act (民用航空法). The ruling can be appealed. During the trial, 62-year-old Lien said he was using the drone to “simply take aerial photographs of beautiful scenery,” but it entered the restricted area after he lost control of it due to signal problems. Huang, 35, said he had merely driven Lien to the area and waited in the car, and that he was unaware of the drone’s flight range. The drone’s activity disrupted traffic at the airport, with the most serious incident leading to a temporary suspension of takeoffs and landings at about 3pm on June 29 last year.
CRIME
Tutor center official indicted
The deputy director of an after-school tutoring center in New Taipei City last week was indicted for allegedly sexually harassing six girls aged nine to 13 while playing games and providing academic guidance. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), is suspected of touching the breasts, thighs and buttocks of several girls while playing hide-and-seek, tag and other games, and touching their breasts while they were sleeping, the indictment said. Prosecutors charged him under the Criminal Code and the Sexual Harassment Prevention Act (性騷擾防治法). They also requested that the acts be considered aggravated, in accordance with the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法). Chiu denied the guilt, saying he might have inadvertently touched the girls. The case came to light after one of the girls asked the head of the center for help and described Chiu’s actions. Meanwhile, another girl said she had nightmares about being harassed.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
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