■ Transport
Mandarin unveils new route
Mandarin Airlines will open regular direct flights between Kaohsiung and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, starting tomorrow. The new service will benefit Taiwanese businessmen who travel frequently to the Southeast Asian country, Vietnamese spouses of local citizens and travelers in southern Taiwan, a spokesman for the company said. The flight will take around 3.5 hours, the spokesman said, adding that tickets for the first flight had sold out. The airline is offering a discounted ticket price for flights between tomorrow and May 12 to celebrate the opening of the new route, the spokesman said.
■ Politics
Mayor hospitalized
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) has been admitted to Chung-ho Memorial Hospital, the Kaohsiung City Government said yesterday. Director-General of the Mayor's Office Hung Chih-kun (洪智坤) said the hospital insisted Chen stay in hospital for further examination after she complained of suffering dizziness after getting up on Thursday. Hospital vice president Lai Wen-te (賴文德) told a press conference that Chen has high blood pressure and blood sugar, adding that the hospital plans to conduct blood tests on her. Lai said Chen was conscious and in stable condition, but that she was expected to stay in the hospital for observation for four to five days. Hung and Hsiao Yu-cheng (蕭裕正), director-general of the city's Department of Information, both denied rumors that Chen had been hospitalized due to a minor stroke. Deputy Kaohsiung Mayor Chiu Tai-san (邱太三) and Cheng Wen-lung (鄭文隆) will manage city affairs until Chen is fit enough to return to work, Hsiao said.
■ Media
TTV chairman resigns
Taiwan Television Enterprise (TTV) chairman Lai Kuo-chou (賴國洲) yesterday handed in his resignation, citing government interference in the state-owned TV station's management. Lai said in a statement that he had to leave because he "stood in the way of somebody getting rich." TTV president Chen Ching-ho (陳清河) will double as chairman until a replacement has been found. Lai said that he would soon brief the public on his experiences at the station. "I think we will figure out sooner or later whether the government's sale of TTV shares to private firms is really a move to keep its promise to withdraw from media management or if it is simply trying to extend its influence on another aspect," he said in the statement.
■ Constitution
Academics call for change
A group of academics yesterday appealed to the nation's major political parties to revise the Constitution and turn the government into a parliamentary system. Lu Ya-li (呂亞力), professor emeritus of political science at National Taiwan University, and Chou Yan-shan (周陽山), professor of political science at the Chinese Culture University, said the general provisions of the Constitution, which deal with the sensitive issues of the country's name and territory, should remain intact. However, the central government should be converted into a parliamentary system, with members chosen by a popular electoral system under which voters cast one ballot for their favored candidate and one for their political party, they said. Claiming that their opinions represented those of more than 100 political science academics and professionals, Lu and Chou also called for a relaxation of the criteria for amending the Constitution.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS