■ Weather
Longwang leaves two dead
Typhoon Longwang killed two people and injured 53 others after lashing Taiwan over the weekend and caused at least NT$200 million (US$6.5 million) in damage, government officials said yesterday. "The typhoon has so far caused NT$130 million in lost farm products and aquaculture," the Council of Agriculture said in a report on the agricultural damage brought by the powerful storm. Various local governments across the nation also reported about a combined NT$70 million worth of infrastructure damage. Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) was relieved that the damage was not as bad as expected, saying that there "was some good fortune in the midst of this misfortune."
■ Culture
Cloud Gate director a `hero'
Famed writer-turned choreographer Lin Hwai-min (林懷民), who founded the internationally acclaimed Cloud Gate Dance Theater, was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 25 "Asian Heroes" for this year. Lin, who is also the artistic director of Cloud Gate, is the only person from Taiwan that made Time's 2005 Asian Heroes list. The Asian edition of the magazine has selected and published "Asian Heroes" for the past four years, choosing men and women that it considers to be either courageous, extraordinarily distinguished in their performances or good role models to inspire other people. Introducing Lin, the magazine said that Lin's troupe once attracted over 60,000 people to watch an outdoor performance; in Europe, members of the audience cried while watching Cloud Gate performances.
■ Transportation
CAL union to sue over funds
The China Airlines (CAL) Employees Union yesterday vowed to file a suit to stop the use of the airlines' funds to finance the debt-ridden Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC). Jesse Lee (李昭平), president of CAL Employees Union, said that the union is set to file a lawsuit today, asking the court to void the resolution made by the China Aviation Development Foundation's board of directors to inject NT$4.5 billion (US$135 million) into the THSRC project. The airline is controlled by the foundation and Ministry of Transportation and Communications. Lee said the decision made by the board of directors clearly violates the foundation's purpose, deviates from social justice and influences the aviation industry. He also accused the board of directors of channeling interests and neglecting their duties.
■ Transportation
Chair reports to task force
Briefing the Executive Yuan's High-Speed Railway Task Force yesterday about the progress of the nation's first high-speed railway project, THSRC Chairwoman Nita Ing (殷琪) said the construction of the project is 86 percent complete and that the company will soon resume negotiations with the Japanese contractor that is in charge of the project's mechanical and electrical system, as well as the firm supplying train carriages. Premier Frank Hsieh on Saturday ordered the task force to be set up to help tackle a host of problems plaguing the project. Yesterday, the premier also demanded that the THSRC increase the number of board supervisors representing government holdings at its next trustee board meeting to help implement the government's participation and supervision of the project.
‘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
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
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
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
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