The government will strengthen customs inspections for diplomatic pouch containers used by foreign envoys in Taiwan, Department of Customs Administration Director General Chien Liang-chi (簡良機) said yesterday.
“One or two cases in which diplomatic pouch containers were used for smuggling were found last year. We will step up control to put an end to smuggling via this channel,” Chien said at the legislature’s Economics Committee.
Chien made the remarks in response to lawmakers’ questions following a report in yesterday’s Chinese-language China Times.
The paper said that Wu Shih-tsai (吳思材), a broker involved in the recent diplomatic fund scandal, was allegedly found smuggling peanuts, mushrooms and tobacco into the country via diplomatic pouch containers early last year.
The report said that Wu, who falsely claimed to be the commercial attache of the Haitian embassy, had bribed former Haitian ambassador Paul Raymond Peridon into sending diplomatic containers in which he concealed smuggled goods.
The Customs Tariff Act (關稅法) states that members of the foreign corps are free from inspections of goods they bring into Taiwan, but those goods can be inspected if the customs authorities think it is necessary, Chien said.
In related news, lawmakers sitting on the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday decided to unfreeze half of the NT$343.7 million (US$11.2 million) budget earmarked for training the 64 athletes who have qualified for this year’s Beijing Olympics.
The committee had frozen the budget contingent on the Sports Affairs Council’s briefing to lawmakers about its plan to help the athletes win gold medals in August.
Earlier this year, the council predicated Taiwanese athletes could win seven gold medals, with the best chances in the taekwondo, weightlifting, archery and tennis competitions.
The council, however, said recently that only Chu Mu-yen (朱木炎), who won a gold medal in the taekwondo competition at the Athens Olympics in 2004, has at least a 70 percent chance of winning a gold medal this year.
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
EVA Air is prohibiting the use of portable chargers on board all flights starting from Saturday, while China Airlines is advising passengers not to use them, following the lead of South Korean airlines. Current regulations prohibit portable chargers and lithium batteries from check-in luggage and require them to be properly packed in carry-on baggage, EVA Air said. To improve onboard safety, portable chargers and spare lithium batteries would be prohibited from use on all fights starting on Saturday, it said. Passengers are advised to fully charge electronic devices before boarding and use the AC and USB charging outlets at their seat, it said. South
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