ENTERTAINMENT
Taichung to mark Diwali
A dance competition and bazaar are to be held on Friday next week at Taichung City Hall Square to celebrate the Indian Diwali Festival, the India Taipei Association said yesterday. The association said it is bringing “the festival of lights” to Taichung on the 30th anniversary of its establishment in Taiwan to highlight the city’s thriving Indian cuisine scene and large population of Indian students. The inaugural India Dance Competition Grand Finale would feature 30 teams competing from 5pm to 9pm, with eight winners to be announced on site and total prizes of NT$120,000 to be distributed. Performances would range from Indian classical and folk dances to fusion styles incorporating street, contemporary and ballet elements, the association said. The Diwali Bazaar would he held from 3pm to 9pm, featuring 30 booths with Indian cuisine, traditional “henna” hand- painting, handicrafts and interactive art workshops, it said. Art displays and a lamp lighting zone, symbolizing the festival’s spirit of the “triumph of light over darkness,” would also be featured, it said. The festivities would be the association’s third Diwali celebration in Taiwan, following previous events in Taipei in 2023 and Kaohsiung last year.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung City Government
CRIME
Ketamine factory raided
Taichung prosecutors yesterday said they have indicted five suspects on charges of manufacturing narcotics, after 1,756kg of chemicals with an eventual street value of NT$1.5 billion (US$48.88 million) was seized from a factory in Changhua County. The Criminal Investigation Bureau said it received intelligence in June that a drug-smuggling ring was producing ketamine in a 1,650m2 corrugated iron factory in an industrial park in Changhua County’s Siansi Township (線西). The group allegedly chose the site to conceal chemical odors among nearby plastic and machinery plants, the bureau said. The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office instructed the bureau and the Taichung Police Department to gather evidence and obtained a search warrant on June 19, after which it dispatched a task force to raid the site. Police seized 628kg of ketamine and 1,228kg of unfinished product, plus plastic and metal drums, raw chemical materials, drug-making paraphernalia and mobile phones, the office said. Five suspects were arrested, including the suspected ringleader, a man surnamed Chen (陳). They were transferred to the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office for investigation before a court approved their detention. The seized drugs have been destroyed.
CRIME
Fugitive posed as woman
A person who told police they were a woman after being arrested for failing to pay a taxi fare in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) was later found to be a man who had been evading authorities in Yilan County for six years, police said. The 33-year-old fugitive, surnamed Yang (楊), has been living and working in Taipei and New Taipei City under a female identity. Yang was arrested early on Thursday over an unpaid fare of NT$700, police said. Officers were called to the scene by a taxi driver who said his passenger claimed to have no cash, left to retrieve money from home and never returned, they said. Yang spoke in a “soft voice,” police said, adding that they produced an ID card belonging to somebody else. A fingerprint check later revealed that Yang was wanted by Yilan prosecutors on charges including fraud and public endangerment, police said. Investigators said Yang had long disguised himself as a woman to avoid arrest.
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union yesterday vowed to protest at the EVA Air Marathon on Sunday next week should EVA Airway Corp’s management continue to ignore the union’s petition to change rules on employees’ leave of absence system, after a flight attendant reportedly died after working on a long-haul flight while ill. The case has generated public discussion over whether taking personal or sick leave should affect a worker’s performance review. Several union members yesterday protested at the Legislative Yuan, holding white flowers and placards, while shouting: “Life is priceless; requesting leave is not a crime.” “The union is scheduled to meet with
‘UNITED FRONT’ RHETORIC: China’s TAO also plans to hold weekly, instead of biweekly, news conferences because it wants to control the cross-strait discourse, an expert said China’s plan to expand its single-entry visa-on-arrival service to Taiwanese would be of limited interest to Taiwanese and is a feeble attempt by Chinese administrators to demonstrate that they are doing something, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) spokesman Chen Binhua (陳斌華) said the program aims to facilitate travel to China for Taiwanese compatriots, regardless of whether they are arriving via direct flights or are entering mainland China through Hong Kong, Macau or other countries, and they would be able to apply for a single-entry visa-on-arrival at all eligible entry points in China. The policy aims
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