■ CRIME
Shih wins slander lawsuit
Former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Wang Shih-cheng (王世堅) was found guilty yesterday of slandering former DPP chairman Shih Ming-teh (施明德) and New Aspect Cultural and Educational Foundation chairman Hsu Po-yun (�?�). The Taipei District Court sentenced Wang to 25 days in prison. The sentence may be commuted to a fine. Yesterday's ruling is final. Shih led demonstrations against President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in the summer and autumn of 2006. Wang told a press conference on Sept. 23, 2006, that Hsu had gone to China on Sept. 21 to meet with top Chinese officials and report on the progress of the anti-Chen movement. Wang said Shih had sent Hsu. The court said in its ruling that Wang had offered no evidence to back his accusation.
■ SOCIETY
Aboriginal population grows
The number of Aborigines totaled 484,000 at the end of last year, accounting for 2.1 percent of the population, a report released yesterday by the Ministry of the Interior showed. The number marked an increase of 1.95 percent from 2006, much higher than the growth rate of the total population, 0.36 percent, the report said. A total of 256,000, or 52.9 percent, of Aborigines live in mountainous areas. The Amis accounted for the largest number, at 173,000, followed by the Atayal and the Paiwan, each accounting for approximately 80,000 people. Hualien and Taitung counties have the largest Aboriginal populations, with 33.8 percent of Taitung's population and 26 percent of Hualien's being Aboriginal.
■ EDUCATION
Ministry lauds Web project
An Internet afterschool program launched by the Ministry of Education has benefited more than 100 students so far, the ministry said yesterday. The program, designed to enhance the education of underprivileged children in remote areas via the Internet, has benefited more than 100 primary and junior high school students from Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Nantou and Kaohsiung counties since it was launched in November 2006, the ministry said. Fu Jen Catholic University in Taipei County, National Chi Nan University in Nantou County and Wen Tzao Ursuline College in Kaohsiung City administer the project in cooperation with the ministry. The NT$8.5 million (US$27,000) program aims to offer extra educational assistance to students to narrow the gap between urban and rural areas and between rich and poor, the ministry said.
■ POLITICS
DPP whip dismisses poll
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip William Lai (賴清德) yesterday shrugged off the results of a newspaper poll of public approval for the presidential candidates. Lai dismissed the results of a United Daily News survey conducted the day before that claimed Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and his running mate, Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), had an approval rating of 56 percent, while the DPP's Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and his running mate, Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), had an approval rating of just 18 percent. Lai said that the information he had was very different from the daily's poll, saying that "if the poll were true, the Ma-Siew ticket should probably set off firecrackers now in celebration." He did not elaborate on his information or give its source. He said the aim of the pro-unification daily's poll was to support the KMT's candidates.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Eco-friendly lanterns
The Environmental Protection Bureau of Taipei County is promoting "online sky lanterns" as an eco-friendly and safe alternative to traditional lanterns ahead of the Lantern Festival, when rice paper lanterns are traditionally lit and sent into flight. The bureau said the kerosene and paper burned when releasing a single sky lantern results in the release of about 1kg of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Chiang Pen-Chi (蔣本芝), section chief of the bureau's "Low-Carbon Society Development Center," said yesterday that the online sky lanterns provided by the county government have attracted over 10,000 Taiwan residents over the past several years, resulting in a 10 tonne reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Besides being better for the environment, the online sky lanterns offer a safer alternative to the traditional lanterns, which cause several fires in Taiwan over the holiday each year.
■ TOURISM
Boat visits at five-year high
The number of tourist arrivals aboard cruise liners calling at Taiwan's international ports hit a five-year high of more than 426,000 last year, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) reported on Thursday. Last year's figure marked an increase of about 111,000 over the 2006 level, or a 35.3 percent growth year on year, the most recent statistics by the MOTC showed. Last year, Keelung Port saw the largest number of cruise liner tourist arrivals -- 272,000 or 63.8 percent of the total. The British-registered Rhapsody of the Seas was the most recent ocean liner to visit Keelung, mooring for half a day on Monday. There were more than 2,000 passengers aboard the ship, nearly 700 of whom were Chinese.
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