The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is continuing to press Indonesia for help in finding the missing crew of the fishing boat High Aim 6 that was recently found abandoned in Australian waters.
Captain Chen Tai-cheng (陳泰成) and chief engineer Lin Chung-li (林中立) are feared to have been thrown overboard or killed by the their Indonesian crew, ministry officials said.
The ministry has also asked the Indonesian government to help track down nine crewmembers.
According to a Jan. 19 report from the Indonesian police headquarters, police in Bitung, North Sulawesi Province, nabbed a suspect who admitted that he was one of the 10 Indonesians that the High Aim 6 recruited in early November to fish in waters near the Marshall Islands.
Police say the man told them his nine colleagues had fled and probably returned to their homes in central Java, while Chen and Lin had been killed.
Police in several Indonesian provinces have been informed about the nine suspects and the fact that Lin's cellphone had been repeatedly used between Jan. 1 to Jan. 10, ministry officials said.
According to Lin's wife, a bill for more than NT$40,000 from Chunghua Telecom shows that Lin's cellphone had been repeatedly used during that time. All 87 calls that were made from Lin's phone were made in Bali.
Lin's family has said they last heard from him on Dec. 5.
High Aim 6 departed Tungkang on Oct. 31 for Indonesia. The boat was found drifting in waters near Broome, Australia on Jan. 3, with no one aboard. Australian authorities had it towed into Broome on Jan. 10 for examination.
Chen and Lin's families fear the men were either abducted or thrown overboard -- either by pirates or by their crewmen.
According officials from the Hsiaoliuchio Fishermen's Association, the High Aim 6 arrived in Bitung on Nov. 7 and was preparing to head for the Marshall Islands to fish.
People should continue to cheer for Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-ting (林郁婷) at the Olympics Games in Paris today, despite British writer J.K. Rowling’s remarks against her, the Sports Administration said in a statement on Wednesday. Rowling recently shared on X a story from the Guardian about Lin and Algerian boxer Imane Khelif being cleared to compete in the Olympic Games in Paris this year despite having failed gender eligibility tests at the International Boxing Association Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi last year. “What will it take to end this insanity? A female boxer left with life-altering injuries? A female boxer
DISCRIMINATORY: Airlines’ uniform requirements contravene the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, a watchdog said Airline companies’ appearance requirements obliging female flight attendants to wear pencil skirts and high heels are discriminatory, and they should be able to have the option to wear pants, the National Human Rights Commission said in a report yesterday. Completing a year-long probe, commission members said the uniform requirements of Taiwan’s air carriers contravened the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). To fight gender-based discrimination, government agencies should issue guidelines and require airlines to make changes so that female flight attendants have the option to wear pants, the report said. The Taoyuan Flight Attendants’ Union in
SATELLITE MISSION: Today’s mission is to take off from the Xichang Launch Center and is pathed over Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, the defense ministry said China has a rocket launch scheduled for today, with the path likely to cross Taiwan’s air defense identification zone, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The launch would be among at least a dozen Chinese satellite missions in the past 18 months that have passed over the zone or Taiwan, although none threatened national security as they had left the atmosphere by that stage in their flight. The ministry first started making details of such launches public this year. Today’s mission is to take off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China’s Sichuan Province, the ministry said, citing an official announcement
COGNITIVE WARFARE: The People’s Liberation Army’s recent military exercises near Taiwan aim to intimidate the Taiwanese public, a legislator said Two sorties of Chinese drones were detected flying around the perimeter of Taiwan proper between 6am on Saturday and 6am yesterday, according to the Ministry of National Defense. A total of 31 Chinese military aircraft — which included several drones — and 12 Chinese warships were detected operating in and near the Taiwan Strait over the 24-hour period, the ministry said. Institute for National Defense and Security Research fellow Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said the maneuvers were likely aimed at affecting public sentiment in Taiwan, demonstrating defiance toward the US’ two-plus-two talks with India and Australia, and enacting China’s polarized strategy of pushing