Two indicted for smuggling
The Taiwan Yunlin District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said it has charged two Vietnamese nationals with smuggling marijuana from Thailand into Taiwan. The case resulted in the confiscation of 2.2kg of cannabis, with a street value of more than NT$3 million (US$94,703), it said. The package was sent to Yunlin County by a man surnamed Tran, a Vietnamese migrant worker in Taiwan. A contact number was provided for another Vietnamese national, surnamed Nguyen, who once worked at the same company as Tran. Kaohsiung customs officers flagged the package when it arrived in Taiwan in October last year. It was found to contain hair products such as shower caps and perm rods, concealing marijuana Tran procured in Thailand. The prosecution added that police replaced the drugs with other plant material before delivering the package on Oct. 27, arresting Tran and Nguyen at the address.
One killed in Yilan crash
Photo: Huang Shu-li, Taipei Times
A driver police say might have been under the influence of drugs struck several cars in a fatal crash in Yilan City late on Thursday, killing one person and injuring others. The police said a man surnamed Lin (林) lost control of his car on a wet road and hit a stopped car before striking six other vehicles, including a scooter. The driver of the first car Lin struck was killed, police said. Lin, his passenger and the scooter driver were taken to hospital. Police said that while Lin tested negative for alcohol, etomidate was found in his possession and he tested positive for the drug, known commonly as zombie oil. The Yilan District Prosecutors’ Office has taken over the case.
Coupang has data breach
Korean e-commerce operator Coupang could face a fine of up to NT$10 million for a data breach affecting more than 200,000 customers in Taiwan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said on Wednesday. An investigation conducted by an independent cybersecurity firm recruited by Coupang showed hackers were able to access personal information of the platform’s customers in Taiwan. The investigation showed weak security practices by Coupang, creating vulnerabilities. Administration for Digital Industries Director-General Lin Jiunn-shiow (林俊秀) said the ministry has submitted a report to the Executive Yuan and that Coupang Taiwan would be given an opportunity to explain itself. The fine would be decided by cybersecurity experts and law enforcement officials, he added
March stargazing events
There are three major astronomical phenomena this month, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, all visible with the eye or binoculars. A conjunction of Venus and Saturn is expected to occur at 6:11am on Monday next week. The two celestial bodies will be visible tomorrow evening, looking to the west, the museum said, adding that while the planets would be visible to the naked eye, observers would have a much clearer view with binoculars. The zodiacal lights, caused by the sun’s light reflecting off interplanetary dust, can be observed as a triangular cone extending from the horizon upwards, two to three hours after sunset in areas without severe light pollution, it said. A lunar conjunction with the Pleiades would appear in the western skies at about 9pm on March 23, it said. Observers should use binoculars to observe the celestial bodies within the Pleiades cluster, the museum said.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
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