■ Elections
DPP to hold poll again
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Feng-hsi (林豐喜), who is competing with former DPP vice chairman Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) to become the party's candidate for Taichung County Commissioner yesterday said a telephone poll conducted in the second part of the primary race was unfair and asked the DPP to redo the survey. The DPP accepted Lin's demand and said it will commission a survey company to redo the poll this evening. The DPP originally planned to announce its candidate for Taichung County commissioner yesterday, as the telephone poll was done on Monday evening. According to the survey, Chiu came out on top and as such would have been selected as the candidate representing the DPP. But Lin suspects that one of the three survey companies falsified the results.
■ Trade
MOFA to push pact with US
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is trying to make contact with the US government and Congress, as well as industrial and commercial groups in the US, in the hope of opening formal negotiations on the issue of signing a free-trade agreement (FTA), a ministry official said yesterday. Victor Chin (秦日新), director-general of North American affairs, made the remarks one day after Senator John Rockefeller IV said in Taipei that he was willing to help Taiwan overcome difficulties in its efforts to sign an FTA with Washington. President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) met the senator at the Presidential Office on Monday and urged the US to sign an FTA with Taiwan to maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.
■ Society
New Party official off to jail
The Taiwan High Court yesterday sentenced New Party Taipei City Councilor Li Ching-yuan (李慶元) to a six-month jail term and will suspend his civil rights for two years on charges of violating the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Law (總統副總統選舉罷免法). In 2000, Li published a book accusing President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) -- who was then running for the presidency -- of having an extra-marital affair with a lady. In March, 2000, Li and former New Party presidential candidate Li Ao (李敖), the incumbent independent legislator jointly held a press conference in Taipei City Council to publicize book co-authored by them entitled Chen Shui-bian's True Face.
■ Diplomacy
Ambassador sought
Taipei is looking for the right person to serve as ambassador to Nauru, now that Chinese diplomats on the South-Pacific island nation have officially announced the severing of diplomatic relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶隆) said yesterday. Speaking at a regular news briefing at the ministry's headquarters, Lu said that Chinese diplomats stationed in Nauru made the announcement Monday in retaliation for Nauru's decision to switch its formal recognition from Beijing to Taipei on May 14. However, the Taiwanese ambassador has yet to be named, he added. According to Lu, Nauru's case is a clear indication that Beijing has been sparing no efforts to crowd out Taiwan in the international community, and the main purpose of Beijing's establishment of diplomatic ties with other countries is simply aimed at isolating Taiwan.
A Taiwanese software developer has created a generative artificial intelligence (AI) model to help people use AI without exposing sensitive data, project head Huang Chung-hsiao (黃崇校) said yesterday. Huang, a 55-year-old coder leading a US-based team, said that concerns over data privacy and security in popular generative AIs such as ChatGPT and DeepSeek motivated him to develop a personal AI assistant named “Mei.” One of the biggest security flaws with cloud-based algorithms is that users are required to hand over personal information to access the service, giving developers the opportunity to mine user data, he said. For this reason, many government agencies and
The National Fire Agency on Thursday said a series of drills simulating a magnitude 8.5 earthquake would be held in September to enhance the government’s emergency response capabilities. Since earthquakes cannot be predicted, only by continuously promoting disaster prevention measures could Taiwan enhance its resilience to earthquakes, agency Director-General Hsiao Huan-chang (蕭煥章) said in a news release. The exercises would be held to mark annual National Disaster Prevention Day on Sept. 21, the aim of which is to test Taiwan’s preparedness and improve its earthquake resilience in case of a major temblor, Hsiao said. As part of those drills, an earthquake alert would
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
STRICTER ENFORCEMENT: Taipei authorities warned against drunk cycling after a sharp rise in riding under the influence, urging greater public awareness of its illegality Taipei authorities have issued a public warning urging people not to ride bicycles after consuming alcohol, following a sharp rise in riding under the influence (DUI) cases involving bicycles. Five hundred and seven people were charged with DUI last year while riding YouBikes, personal bicycles, or other self-propelled two-wheelers — a fourfold increase from the previous year, data released by the Taipei Police Department’s Traffic Division showed. Of these, 33 cases were considered severe enough to be prosecuted under “offenses against public safety,” the data showed. Under the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例), bicycles — including YouBikes and other
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