■ CRIME
Chiayi politician indicted
Chiayi County Council Speaker Yu Cheng-tah (余政達) was indicted yesterday on charges of corruption, and prosecutors called for a 22-year sentence. Chiayi prosecutors allege that Yu accepted at least NT$3 million (US$90,909) in bribes from businessmen in January when the county government was organizing a lantern festival. Yu, an independent, was indicted on charges of receiving bribes and extortion. Seven others, including two of Yu's aides and two Chiayi County Government officials, were indicted for corruption, while three businessmen were indicted on charges of bribery. Prosecutors said Yu's aides passed the bribes onto him.
■ WEATHER
Typhoon Krosa moves closer
Typhoon Krosa, which was upgraded from a tropical storm yesterday morning, is expected to affect Taiwan from Saturday, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) reported yesterday. At 2pm yesterday, Krosa was located at approximately 1,100km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), moving northwesterly toward Taiwan at a speed of 10kph, meteorologists said. Packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph, Krosa -- the 15th storm reported in the West Pacific region this year -- had a radius of 200km as of 2pm, the meteorologists said, adding that the radius was expected to increase as the typhoon moves toward Taiwan. Krosa is expected to bring sporadic showers to northern and eastern Taiwan over the next two days, while cloudy skies are forecast for central and southern Taiwan, and temperatures are expected to be high for the western part of the island, the forecasters said.
■ SOCIETY
Scared husband gets divorce
A district court granted a divorce to a man because his wife, suspecting him of infidelity, had threatened to cut off his penis, a newspaper said yesterday. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), told the Taoyuan District Court that he and his wife, surnamed Huang (黃), had been married for 10 years, the United Daily News reported. Three years ago, Tseng became a truck driver, which required him to work occasional night shifts. The following year, Huang began to suspect Tseng of seeing other women. When Tseng slept, Huang would sometimes wake him up to interrogate him and threaten to cut off his penis. To show Tseng that she was serious, Huang placed a knife beside the bed and would sometimes sharpen it at night. After living in fear for two years, Tseng asked the court in May to grant him a divorce. The Taoyuan District Court granted the motion on Tuesday on the grounds that his wife's jealousy had made it impossible for them to continue living together.
■ PUBLISHING
Taiwan at Frankfurt fair
Some 64 local publishers are taking part in this year's Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, which opened yesterday. The Taiwanese are presenting 677 books in 10 categories to showcase the nation's publishing industry and seek copyright agreements. Taipei Book Fair Foundation chairman Lin Tzai-chuei (林載爵) said his group organized the national booth with the theme "Taiwan -- the Paradise of Chinese-language Publishing." The variety of books exhibited demonstrates that Taiwan is a favorable environment for writers and publishers, he said. A special section at the booth will display Chinese-language literary works banned in other countries, including the writings of exiled Chinese writers Gao Xingjian (高行健), Kang Zhengguo (康正果) and Jing Fuzi (京夫子), Lin said.
■ EVENTS
Double Ten fireworks at sea
A fireworks show organized by the central government to celebrate this year's Double Ten National Day will be held in the Taiwan Strait 400m off the coast of Dapeng Bay in Pingtung County, organizers said yesterday. They will be the first National Day fireworks display at sea, Pingtung County officials said, adding that the annual show on Oct. 10 would draw an estimated 100,000 visitors to the county. The fireworks show is scheduled to take place between 7pm and 8pm, the county government said, adding it has planned several other activities, including street art performances and a community fair. Last year's Double Ten National Day fireworks were held in Kaohsiung County.
■ CROSS-STRAIT TIES
DPP duo slam Beijing
Two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers on Tuesday blamed their failure to attend the opening ceremony of the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai on obstruction from the Chinese government. DPP Legislator Hsieh Hsin-ni (謝欣霓) said that China should have allowed her to attend the ceremony, as she is a consultant for the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee. Legislator Lan Mei-ching (藍美津), who also acts in that capacity, was also denied a visa to attend the games. Lan said that sports should transcend political boundaries and that she had hoped to support Taiwanese athletes competing in the Special Olympics. Two other DPP legislators, Hsu Jung-shu (許榮淑) and Wang Jung-chang (王榮章), were granted visas to attend the opening ceremony.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
IDENTITY SHIFT: Asked to choose to identify as either Taiwanese or Chinese, 83.3 percent of respondents chose Taiwanese, while 8.4 percent chose Chinese An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, 71.5 percent, think that Taiwan should compete in international competitions under the name “Taiwan,” a Taiwan Brain Trust survey published yesterday showed. Referring to Taiwan’s victory last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12, the survey results showed that 89.1 percent of respondents said that Taiwan’s exceptional performance in sporting competitions furthers national unity. Only 18.8 percent of respondents supported Taiwanese teams’ continued use of the name “Chinese Taipei” in international sporting competitions, the survey showed. Among Taiwan’s leading political parties, the name “Team Taiwan” was supported by 91.1 percent of self-identified Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters,
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