■ Politics
Arms bill fails again
The legislature's Procedure Committee yesterday placed the government budget at the top of the next legislative agenda, while voting down the arms procurement bill for the 41st time as well as the confirmation of Control Yuan members. The Procedure Committee voted 17 to 12 in favor of a proposal filed by People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lin Te-fu (林德福) not to table the long-stalled arms procurement plan, consideration of the president's nomination of Control Yuan members, draft amendments to the Referendum Law (公民投票法) and amendments to the Organic Law of the Ministry of Justice Organization (法務部組織法), which would establish a new department dedicated to the investigation of corruption and related crimes.
PHOTO: CHEN TSE MING
■ Politics
Lawmaker sues colleagues
A People First Party (PFP) lawmaker yesterday filed a defamation lawsuit against four Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members for allegedly accusing her of revealing a videotape disclosing "travel subsidies" issued by the campaign of DPP Taipei County commissioner candidate Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉). Lee Yung-ping (李永萍) said yesterday that she felt regret that the DPP lawmakers denounced her for disclosing the video. Despite calling her a liar, Lee said that none of her accusers had offered an apology for their remarks. Lee was referring to Luo, DPP legislators Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇), Lee Wen-chung (李文忠) and William Lai (賴清德). In response, Lee Wen-chung yesterday said that he respected Lee Yung-ping's right to file a lawsuit but siad that Luo and Luo's campaign office were not involved with the "subsidies."
■ Society
Taipei plans big New Year
Taipei City Government has expanded the scope of this year's New Year celebrations, which in addition to the annual New Year Party concert -- this year featuring A-mei (阿妹) and Stefanie Sun (孫燕姿) -- will include a DJ show, a pop music contest, a 3-on-3 basketball game, and Aboriginal and Hakka food and cultural events. To coincide with the party, all the city's MRT lines will operate around the clock on Dec. 31. Bus services around the Xinyi shopping district and city hall areas will also run 24 hours on that day. Free maps with details of the celebrations can be obtained from the city government's service center, travel centers, Taipei Zoo, the municipal library, Taipei Fine Art Museum and 15 MRT stations from Dec. 16. For more information, call (02) 2720-8889 ext. 2028.
■ Society
Pro-Taiwan group pushes DPP
A pro-Taiwan independence group, the 908 Taiwan Republic Campaign, released a statement urging the governing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to stop its internal squabbling and fight to stop China's power from further penetrating Taiwan. Peter Wang (王獻極), leader of the group, said that although it seemed that the government has given up in its bid to draw up a new constitution for Taiwan, the group would continue promoting the constitutional campaign. Chuang Po-lin (莊柏林), supervisor of the group and a Presidential Office policy adviser, said that they will follow the example set by the Tzu-chi Foundation (慈濟功德會) in their bid to establish a Taiwanese Republic.
■ Cultural affairs
Characters to be discussed
Academics from China and Taiwan will gather in Taipei next April to discuss ways to promote "exchanges" of the simplified and traditional Chinese characters that are used on each side of the Taiwan Strait. Liao Hsien-hao (廖咸浩), director of Taipei City's Department of Cultural Affairs, said yesterday that some Chinese academics are calling for "restoring" the use of traditional characters in China since the historical background for adopting the simplified characters has changed. In the face of changes in information technology, he said, both sides should take a practical and scientific attitude toward Chinese characters.
■ Transportation
Lawmaker attacks KRTC
The cave-ins at Kaohsiung's rapid transit construction sites were partly the result of the Kaohsiung Rapid Transit Corp (KRTC) ignoring its own report on a number of missteps, Independent Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) said yesterday. Chiu quoted a Taiwan Construction Research Institute (TCRI) report from May as saying that underground hydraulic data was not taken into account by route designers and the quality of construc-tion was questionable. The report, commissioned by the KRTC, said the KRTC had not properly evaluated subsidence incidents, had not done a good job of monitoring shield machines and had not been able to prevent water leakage. These "defects" seem to have originated from a poor building plan. Chiu said the report had recommended forming an ad hoc group of experts to monitor the construction process but the Democratic Progressive Party opposed the idea. He said the KRTC has ignored the TCRI's safety alerts and refused to stop construction for a comprehensive safety check-up.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by