■ POLITICS
TSU challenges singer
The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) named its own legislative candidate for Taipei County's Sanchung City to fight it out with a candidate from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The TSU's Deputy Secretary-General Liu Yi-teh (劉一德) was named by the party's Central Executive Committee to run in Sanchung after the DPP decided to ask -- Yu Tian (余天), a 60-year-old singer -- to vie for the seat. Liu will now be pitted against Yu and the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) candidate, Chu Chun-hsiao (朱俊嘵), the incumbent legislator. TSU spokeswoman Chou Mei-li (周美里) deplored the DPP's failure to respond to the TSU's suggestion that the two parties jointly present one candidate after negotiations. Liu said he was surprised that the DPP chose a singer with no past connection to the party to run for the seat. "I liked Yu Tian's singing, but he is totally irrelevant to the legislative election. His contribution to Taiwan's democracy movement is almost nil," Liu said. Liu expressed confidence that, with his 30 years of devotion to Taiwan's democracy movement, he is in a favorable position to compete with Yu in the election scheduled for Jan. 12, next year.
■ POLITICS
Confirmation votes set
Lawmakers scheduled confirmation votes yesterday for President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) nominations for auditor-general of the Ministry of Audit, Judicial Yuan president, Judicial Yuan vice president and members of the Council of Grand Justices for Sept. 14. The new legislative session start on Friday. Caucus whips met yesterday to negotiate the agenda for confirmation matters. They decided to have a plenary session for a question-and-answer meeting with the Ministry of Audit's auditor-general candidate Lin Ching-lung (林慶隆) next Tuesday and a two-day plenary session for a question-and-answer meeting with the candidate for Judicial Yuan president, Lai Ying-jaw (賴英照), and the candidates for grand justices on the following days. The weekly question-and-answer sessions with Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) will begin on Sept. 18, when Chang will brief lawmakers on his administration's policies.
■ Transportation
THSR to increase trains
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSR) announced yesterday that it would increase the number of southbound and northbound daily trains to 91 next Friday. THSR officials also said that passengers can book regular and group tickets for the added trains starting today and new schedules will be available at station information desks on Thursday. The THSR also announced it has cooperated with an international credit card company to provide contactless credit card payment services at the ticketing counter at each station. Passengers can now pay for their tickets using their contactless credit cards.
■ SOCIETY
Kaohsiung loses bid
Kaohsiung lost its bid to host the Asia-Pacific Cities Summit 2009, delegates to this year's summit in Brisbane, Australia, said yesterday. A press release issued by the city quoted Deputy Mayor Cheng Wen-lon (鄭文龍), leader of the five-member delegation, as saying Incheon, South Korea, won the most votes at the end of the four-day Brisbane meeting and so will host the 2009 meet. Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said her administration would endeavor to enhance the city's profile by playing host to other international activities. The biannual Asia-Pacific City Summit provides a forum for regional leaders to discuss urban problems.
CAUTION: Based on intelligence from the nation’s security agencies, MOFA has cautioned Taiwanese travelers about heightened safety risks in China-friendly countries The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese to be aware of their safety when traveling abroad, especially in countries that are friendly to China. China in June last year issued 22 guidelines that allow its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death so-called “diehard” Taiwanese independence activists, even though Chinese courts have no jurisdiction in Taiwan. Late last month, a senior Chinese official gave closed-door instructions to state security units to implement the guidelines in countries friendly to China, a government memo and a senior Taiwan security official said, based on information gathered by Taiwan’s intelligence agency. The
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said yesterday that it is looking to hire 8,000 people this year, at a time when the tech giant is expanding production capacity to maintain its lead over competitors. To attract talent, TSMC would launch a large-scale recruitment campaign on campuses across Taiwan, where a newly recruited engineer with a master’s degree could expect to receive an average salary of NT$2.2 million (US$60,912), which is much higher than the 2023 national average of NT$709,000 for those in the same category, according to government statistics. TSMC, which accounted for more than 60 percent
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
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