■ Politics
VCD actor backs pan-blue
An actor who starred in the Special Report VCDs released last October that mocked Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), yesterday announced that he will vote for the pan-blue ticket and apologized for taking part in the satirical production. Peng Han-yang (彭瀚洋) told reporters at a news conference held by the pan-blue camp that he felt sorry for playing a role that he did not identify with. Peng said his performance was "a bad example" to society and stressed that he had not expected the VCDs to generate such a huge controversy. Peng also said he will vote for Lien and Soong because he believed they could bring a better life to the people of Taiwan, including an actor like himself.
■ Election
Foreigners to observe poll
More than 40 US academics and experts on East Asia affairs are expected to come to Taiwan to observe Saturday's election. Tang Ben, director of the Asian Studies Center of American Claremont Institute said the observers are all either professors or experts from think tanks. They include Stanley Rosen, a political science professor at the University of Southern California, and Richard Baum, the director of the Center for Chinese Studies at UCLA. Some of the observers have been invited by the government or civic groups. Rosen, who left for Taipei Monday night, said this will be the third time he will observe an election in Taiwan. He was here for the 1991 legislative elections and the 2001 Kaohsiung mayoral election.
■ Politics
Chang sues fugitive tycoon
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chang Ching-fang (張清芳) filed a libel lawsuit against fugitive Tuntex chief Chen Yu-hao (陳由豪) yesterday over Chen's accusations that he had meddled in the bidding for a construction project. Chang said starting that March 1, the fugitive tycoon has made contradictory accusations to tarnish his reputation but failed to produce solid evidence that he had broken the law. On Monday, Chen held a press conference in the US, accusing Chang of sending his assistant to apply pressure on Tung Ting Gas Corp in order to gain from the Tatan thermal power plant project in Taoyuan. Chen also played a tape he claimed was a recording of a conversation between Chang's aide and Tung Ting's president. Chang said the authenticity of the voices on the tape could not be proved and he demanded Chen desist in making unfounded allegations.
■ Election
CEC gives voter numbers
More than 16.5 million people are eligible to vote in this Saturday's election, the Central Election Commission announced yesterday. The exact number of eligible voters stands at 16,507,179, according to the commission's newly released election gazette. The number of people eligible to vote in the referendum is 16,497,746. The commission said the difference between the two numbers is due to the fact that overseas Taiwanese who have registered for the election but do not have legal residence in Taiwan cannot vote in the referendum. Taipei County has the largest number of eligible voters: 2,685,778, while Taipei City has 1,981,562 and Kaohsiung has 1,117,380. Other large constituencies include Taoyuan County with 1,273,026 eligible voters, Taichung County with 1,070,877, Changhua County with 947,526, Kaohsiung County with 919,717, Tainan County with 826,288 and Pingtung County with 669,646.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
TRAVEL CONVENIENCE: The program is to shorten wait times while passing through airport checks and would start for Taiwanese from January next year Japan is to launch a new program to expedite entry procedures for Taiwanese starting from January next year. The Japanese government is planning to introduce new rules to shorten the time it takes foreign travelers to pass through immigration, thereby attracting more tourists to visit, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported yesterday. An airport preclearance program would be implemented to allow foreign travelers to finish some screenings at their departure airport’s terminals and undergo simple confirmation procedures upon arrival, it said. The program would initially be applied to travelers from Taiwan from January next year and could be extended to travelers from elsewhere depending
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
The US military is confident that it would win a war against China if a conflict broke out in the Taiwan Strait, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Charles Q. Brown said at a forum on Saturday. During an interview at the Aspen Security Forum in Aspen, Colorado, on Saturday, CNN reporter Jennifer Griffin asked Brown about the possible outcome of a US-China war in the Taiwan Strait. “Can the US win a war against China if Beijing tries to take Taiwan, from your military perspective?” Griffin asked. “I’m fully confident in our forces. You should be too. We