■ Media
TV station disputes ruling
TVBS, a Hong Kong-invested TV station in Taiwan, said yesterday that it refuses to accept a decision by the Government Information Office (GIO) that it has violated the law and will seek remedial measures in line with law. TVBS, which recently drew the ire of the government and the Democ-ratic Progressive Party (DPP) by exposing damning evidence of a ranking former official suspected of invol-vement in the Kaohsiung mass rapid transit scandal, was responding to the GIO's move a day earlier to slap the station with a NT$1 million (US$29,722) fine for violating the Satellite Broadcasting Law, which limits foreign capital in broadcast media.
■ Immigration
New agency for foreigners
In the face of a continued inflow of foreigners, Taiwan will soon establish an agency exclusively dedicated to immigration affairs, a spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The ministry official made the comment one day after the Legislative Yuan gave its final approval for establishing an immigration administration to take charge of all aspects of immigration affairs. Vice Minister of the Interior Chien Tai-lang (簡太郎) said a day earlier that the immigration administration can begin operations soon to tackle "the many problems" arising from the continued entry of foreign brides from China and other Southeast Asian countries as well as blue-collar and skilled workers.
■ Health
Taiwan helps fight bird flu
Taiwan will donate US$500,000 at the up-coming 13th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to assist in the regional effort against bird flu, an official said yesterday. "Fighting bird flu is one of the main topics of the APEC summit, so we will announce there that Taiwan will donate US$500,000 to contribute to the regional fight against bird flu," Liao Tung-chou (廖東周), deputy chief of the Foreign Ministry's Department of International Organizations, told a seminar. The summit will be held in Busan, South Korea, on Nov. 18 and Nov. 19. Leaders from the 21 APEC member states will meet to discuss regional economic issues and how to fight bird flu.
■ Politics
Misbehavior out: Hsieh
Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday said that violence or any sort of misbehavior cannot and should not be rationalized. Hsieh said during the weekly Cabinet meeting that "when behavior is wrong, it is wrong anyway." He was commenting on writer and poet Tu Shi-san (杜十三) threatening to kill every member of the premier's family. However, the premier said that he would affirm Tu's confession when Tu said that he would apologize for what he did and take responsibility for it. Hsieh said that he understood that some people would support Tu's behavior and said that Tu does not have to apologize.
■ Justice
Two probe Lafayette case
Public prosecutor-general Wu Ying-chao (吳英昭) yesterday confirmed at the legislature that prosecutors Albert Tsai (蔡秋明) and Lo Jung-chien (羅榮乾), in charge of the Lafayette frigate scandal investigation, are in Switzerland investigating records of bank deposits made by fugitive Taiwanese arms broker Andrew Wang (汪傳浦). "The probe of those bank documents could mean a breakthrough in the scandal," Wu said. A Swiss Federal Commission on Oct. 29 approved the handover of bank files to foreign judicial authorities concerning the controversial sale of French warships to Taiwan.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
Prosecutors today declined to say who was questioned regarding alleged forgery on petitions to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators, after Chinese-language media earlier reported that members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Youth League were brought in for questioning. The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau confirmed that two people had been questioned, but did not disclose any further information about the ongoing investigation. KMT Youth League members Lee Hsiao-liang (李孝亮) and Liu Szu-yin (劉思吟) — who are leading the effort to recall DPP caucus chief executive Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) and Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) — both posted on Facebook saying: “I
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has fined Taobao NT$1.2 million (US$36,912) for advertisements that exceed its approved business scope, requiring the Chinese e-commerce platform to make corrections in the first half of this year or its license may be revoked. Lawmakers have called for stricter enforcement of Chinese e-commerce platforms and measures to prevent China from laundering its goods through Taiwan in response to US President Donald Trump’s heavy tariffs on China. The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee met today to discuss policies to prevent China from dumping goods in Taiwan, inviting government agencies to report. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Kuo Kuo-wen (郭國文) said
Sung Chien-liang (宋建樑), who led efforts to recall Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lee Kun-cheng (李坤城), was released on bail of NT$80,000 today amid outcry over his decision to wear a Nazi armband to questioning the night before. Sung arrived at the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office for questioning in a recall petition forgery case last night wearing a red armband bearing a swastika, carrying a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf and giving a Nazi salute. Sung left the building at 1:15am without the armband and covering the book with his coat. Lee said today that this is a serious
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