■ 228 incident
Lu wants to find the facts
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday urged the public to find the facts about the 1947 228 Incident, saying that more conferences and grassroots participation is necessary to highlight the significance of the event. "Relatives of the victims who died in this incident still suffer the pains of having lost family members because the government can't concretely tell the public how the event happened," Lu said attending a conference to discuss the role of the military in the 228 Incident yesterday. Lu visited the historic site in Keelung where the 21st division of the army landed in 1947 to suppress the island-wide protest against KMT rule. Lu has urged the government to continue to find the documents and achieves related to the incident in the private sector and government departments to complete the task of discovering the truth about the event.
■ Asylum
Police keep eye on Xu Po
A Chinese man who is seeking political asylum in Taiwan is living comfortably in a Taoyuan hotel under 24-hour guard by police while his application is being processed, an officer at the Aviation Police Bureau said yesterday. Xu Po (徐波) is under house confinement but is allowed out each day with a police escort for walks. He has also been given a computer to use. Xu can contact those outside of the hotel after receiving permission from police, a bureau officer said. Commissioner of the Aviation Police Bureau Chang Si-liang (張四良) visited Xu on Lunar New Year's eve, Jan. 31, and gave him a red envelope with an undisclosed sum of money and a fruit basket, the officer said. Xu disembarked from a plane that was making a stopover in Taiwan on its way from Seoul to Bangkok Jan. 26. He claimed to be a democracy activist in China and sought political asylum. Considering him a possible political refugee, local authorities have been consulting their counterparts in South Korea and international refugee organizations on Xu's case.
■ Justice
Ministry looks to Europe
The Ministry of Justice will do its best to sign judicial assistance accords with other countries, especially those in Europe, to combat crime, ministry officials said yesterday. This remains a top priority for the ministry and it wishes to forge such an agreement with Switzerland, the officials said. The officials noted that countries involved in the high-profile Lafayette-frigate scandal are all European. Taiwan has been unable to obtain the objective until now due to the lack of formal diplomatic relations with most European nations, they said. Taiwan signed a judicial assistance accord with the US in March last year.
■ Health
WMA head to visit
World Medical Association President Dr. Kati Myllymaki is slated to reach Taipei today for a six-day visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. The Finnish doctor is expected to visit officials involved in Taiwan's bid to join the World Health Organization (WHO), according to the ministry. These officials include Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Kau (高英茂), deputy head of the Department of Health Lee Lung-teng (李龍騰), as well as ambassador-at-large Wu Yung-tung (吳運東), according to the press release. Wu also serves as president of the Taiwan Medical Association. She is also to visit National Taiwan University Hospital and other establishments, the statement said.
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
As Taiwan celebrated its baseball team’s victory in the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12 on Sunday, how politicians referred to the team in their congratulatory messages reflected the nation’s political divide. Taiwan, competing under the name Chinese Taipei (中華台北隊), made history with its first-ever Premier12 championship after beating Japan 4-0 at the Tokyo Dome. Right after the game, President William Lai (賴清德) congratulated the team via a post on his Facebook page. Besides the players, Lai also lauded the team’s coaching and medical staff, and the fans cheering for them in Tokyo or watching the live broadcast, saying that “every
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
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