■ Politics
Officials vow tight security
Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) vowed yesterday to maintain order at CKS International Airport when Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) returns from a controversial visit to China today. Speaking at the Legislative Yuan, the minister said he could not say how many people would go to the airport for Lien's return, but he was firm in his conviction that anyone who tried to stir up trouble would be dealt with harshly. The minister said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Wang Shih-chien (王世堅), who said he would greet Lien on his return at the airport with a shower of eggs, will be arrested if he makes good on his threat. Meanwhile, national police chief Hsieh Yin-tang (謝銀黨) said he will be present at the airport when Lien returns, although Chen Tzu-ching (陳子敬), the newly appointed chief of the Aviation Police Office will be in charge of the police force called in to maintain order. Hsieh said prosecutors from the Taoyuan District Court near the airport will also be present to deal with offenders who disrupt the peace at the airport. Besides the aviation officers, 1,462 policemen will be posted on roads leading to the airport, Hsieh said.
■ Foreign workers
Number of laborers rises
The number of foreign laborers totaled 304,833 as of the end of March, up 2.2 percent from a year earlier, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported yesterday. Thai nationals constituted the largest portion with their number totaling about 100,000, or 32.7 percent of the total, followed by Vietnamese, at about 93,000, and Indonesians, with around 20,000, according to DGBAS officials, who quoted tallies from the Council of Labor Affairs. Of the foreign laborers, 53 percent, or 162,000 people, were working in the manufacturing sector.
■ Education
University promotes safety
Campus safety week at the National Cheng Kung University opened yesterday, according to university president Ou Shan-hwei (歐善惠). The opening ceremony was attended by Ou and Wang Fu-lin (王福林), director of the Department of Military Training Education under the Ministry of Education. Campus safety week is aimed at displaying the university's resolve to secure campus safety by promoting safety education, Ou said. To protect students from danger at night, the university has set up a volunteer "escorting angel team" to accompany students home during late hours, Ou said. He said the school has also employed martial arts experts to teach students defensive skills and established mobile scooter and bicycle teams to patrol the campus.
■ Employment
More foreign labor mooted
The Council of Labor Affairs is expected to allow employment of foreign laborers in public con-struction works worth more than NT$10 billion (US$317.46 million) again after a nearly four-year hiatus. The council made the announcement following Premier Frank Hsieh's (謝長廷) recent order to review policy on foreign laborers. Kuo Fang-yu (郭芳煜), director-general of the council's Employment and Vocational Training Administration, said that the plan would allow 20 percent of workers on site to be foreign employees. Kuo said the plan would be announced within two weeks. The government suspended the introduction of foreign labor for public works in May 2001 to protect domestic employment.
■ Drugs
Man arrested in Cambodia
Cambodian authorities have charged a Taiwanese man with allegedly trying to smuggle 2.2kg of heroin out of the country, officials said yesterday. Cho Shih-jie, 25, was arrested at Phnom Penh International airport on Friday after checking in to board a plane, said prosecutor Nget Sarath, adding that he did not know the flight's destination. Police searched Cho Shih-jie and found several packs of heroin under his pants and strapped to his legs. The suspect faces a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of 50 million riel (US$12,500) if found guilty. Cambodia is not a major drug producer, but is becoming a transit point for heroin from the nearby Golden Triangle, a region where the borders of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet that is known for heroin production.
■ Diplomacy
Concern shown for Maduro
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has delivered his concern for Honduran President Ricardo Maduro, who suffered minor injuries during the forced landing of his plane yesterday. "President Chen has instructed the Taiwan embassy to express concern to Maduro on his behalf," the ministry said. Maduro was on the plane with his youngest daughter, Lorena, headed for Tela, a city 350km north of the capital. Due to engine problems, Maduro's plane was forced to land near Bahiade Tela. Maduro and his daughter were slightly injured but were taken to hospital. The ministry said Maduro delivered a television speech after the accident to inform the public that he was fine.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) and Chunghwa Telecom yesterday confirmed that an international undersea cable near Keelung Harbor had been cut by a Chinese ship, the Shunxin-39, a freighter registered in Cameroon. Chunghwa Telecom said the cable had its own backup equipment, and the incident would not affect telecommunications within Taiwan. The CGA said it dispatched a ship under its first fleet after receiving word of the incident and located the Shunxin-39 7 nautical miles (13km) north of Yehliu (野柳) at about 4:40pm on Friday. The CGA demanded that the Shunxin-39 return to seas closer to Keelung Harbor for investigation over the
An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt. Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said. The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households. After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the
EARTHQUAKE: Taipei and New Taipei City accused a construction company of ignoring the Circular MRT’s original design, causing sections to shift by up to 92cm The Taipei and New Taipei City governments yesterday said they would seek NT$1.93 billion (US$58.6 million) in compensation from the company responsible for building the Circular MRT Line, following damage sustained during an earthquake in April last year that had shuttered a section for months. BES Engineering Corp, a listed company under Core Pacific Group, was accused of ignoring the original design when constructing the MRT line, resulting in negative shear strength resistance and causing sections of the rail line between Jhonghe (中和) and Banciao (板橋) districts to shift by up to 92cm during the April 3 earthquake. The pot bearings on
DEEPER REVIEW: After receiving 19 hospital reports of suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health applied for an epidemiological investigation A buffet restaurant in Taipei’s Xinyi District (信義) is to be fined NT$3 million (US$91,233) after it remained opened despite an order to suspend operations following reports that 32 people had been treated for suspected food poisoning, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. The health department said it on Tuesday received reports from hospitals of people who had suspected food poisoning symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and diarrhea, after they ate at an INPARADISE (饗饗) branch in Breeze Xinyi on Sunday and Monday. As more than six people who ate at the restaurant sought medical treatment, the department ordered the
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