■Protests
Anti-war rally erupts
More than 100 anti-war and anti-US activists clashed yesterday with police in Taipei in what had originally been intended as a peaceful demonstration. Shouting slogans against the US-led invasion of Iraq, protesters hurled red paint at riot police deployed in front of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto of the US. Two students were arrested which triggered further unrest. The two, charged with disrupting social order and attacking the police, were released three hours after their arrest. Yesterday's demonstration was one of a series of small protests in reaction to Washington's attack on Iraq.
■ Diplomacy
US senators to visit Taipei
A group of eight US senators, led by Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, will arrive in Taipei on April 18 for a brief visit. Chen Chien-jen (程建人), representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States, said on Friday that the senators are expected to exchange views with the government leaders in Taipei on such topics as anti-terrorism, public health, and other matters of mutual concern. The Senate mission will also visit Japan, South Korea and China during the trip to Asia.
■ United States
US association on track
A preparatory committee for the establishment of The Association for US-Taiwan Sisterly Relations was set to be inaugurated on Saturday at Little Rock, Arkansas. Michael Tsai (蔡明憲), deputy representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States, will attend the inauguration ceremony. A spokesman for the preparatory committee said the association will help promote mutual understanding and friendship between the American and Taiwanese people by helping them increase their cultural exchanges and economic cooperation.
■ Crime
Woman cuts off penis
For the second time in a week, a woman cut off her lover's penis yesterday following a quarrel. Lin Hsiu-chan (林秀嬋), 52, severed the penis of her boyfriend Chiang Chin-sheng (江金生), 42, after he fell asleep at their rented apartment in Tucheng, outside Taipei. Police rushed Chiang to hospital. Doctors reattached his penis, but said they did not know if Chiang would retain full use of it. After the attack, Lin locked herself up in a room in the apartment and slashed her wrists attempting to commit suicide. Police broke into the room and rushed Lin, who was lying unconscious in a pool of blood, to hospital. Doctors said Lin is in a critical condition. Chiang told police he and Lin had lived together for many years and often quarrelled. Last Wednesday, a Filipino woman cut off the penis of her Filipino-Chinese husband while he was sleeping and flushed it down the toilet.
■ Iraq
Government donates rice
The government yesterday donated 5,000 tonnes of rice to Iraq and pledged to offer more aid and assist in post war reconstruction. Taiwan hopes to develop ties with a new Iraqi government and maybe open a trade representative office in Iraq. The China External Trade Development Council (CETRA) plans to send a delegation to the Middle East when the Iraq war has ended. "In the aftermath of the war, there will be a great demand in the Middle East for medical equipment, building materials, machinery, hardware, auto parts and other products," CETRA Secretary-General Chao Yung-chuan said.
Agencies
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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