POLITICS
TPP lawmaker investigated
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said it is investigating claims that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Wu Chun-cheng (吳春城) used his position to help companies affiliated with him and his family gain government contracts. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus on Thursday said Wu had failed to avoid conflicts of interest in government tenders, and that he had profited from businesses affiliated with his wife, siblings, children and in-laws. Companies affiliated with Wu and his family have won NT$1.1 billion (US$33.58 million) in government contracts, they added. The Act Promoting Development for Strong Generation Policies and Industries (壯世代政策與產業發展促進法), promoted by Wu and passed by the legislature on Jan. 24, was part of Wu’s efforts to consolidate his business empire, the DPP said. Wu said he was confident in facing inspections, as long as they are fair and political powers do not intervene. He said he had not been involved in bidding for government contracts since he became a legislator in February last year. The only tender the Strong Generation Association — a group he chaired until Jan. 24 — participated in was three years ago in Chiayi City, Wu added.
Photo: CNA
DEFENSE
Six balloons detected
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it detected six Chinese balloons near the nation in the 24 hours to 6am yesterday, one of the highest number of balloons detected. Nine Chinese military aircraft, six warships and two official ships were also detected near Taiwan over the same period. The balloons were spotted at an altitude of 4.8768km to 6.096km, one of which directly flew over the nation, the ministry said. Chinese balloons have been regularly spotted over waters near Taiwan in the past few months, but yesterday’s figure is one of the highest recorded, an Agence France-Presse tally of military data showed. Taiwan last year detected a record of eight Chinese balloons less than a month after the Democratic Progressive Party’s William Lai (賴清德) won the presidential election. Taiwan says the Chinese balloons are a form of “gray zone” harassment — a tactic that can exhaust the nation’s armed forces, but falls short of an act of war.
SOCIETY
Chinese ID issue probed
The Ministry of the Interior is investigating companies across Taiwan that have allegedly helped Taiwanese illegally procure Chinese IDs. It said it has already questioned more than 30 people regarding the issue. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) on Thursday said that the ministry is investigating whether travel agencies and public relations companies in northern, central and southern Taiwan have assisted Taiwanese in illegally obtaining Chinese national IDs. Taiwan’s and China’s household registration and nationality systems are “mutually exclusive,” Liu said. Under the Nationality Act (國籍法), it is illegal for Taiwanese to simultaneously possess valid Chinese and Taiwanese documents. The ministry has yet to determine whether the alleged actions by Taiwan-based organizations were “purely commercial” activities or whether they were part of broader efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to promote the political unification of Taiwan and China. The issue garnered attention recently after YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that enable Taiwanese to apply for Chinese documents.
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
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.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
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