■ POLITICS
Former treasurer released
Former presidential treasurer Chen Chen-hui (陳鎮慧), who has been detained since Sept. 25 in connection with the “state affairs fund” case, was released yesterday afternoon after being questioned by the Supreme Prosecutor Office’s Special Investigation Panel (SIP). SIP Spokesman Chen Yun-nan (陳雲南) said the reason to detain Chen Chen-hui no longer existed, so prosecutors decided to release her. Chen Yun-nan did not elaborate. Chen Chen-hui was the first detainee in the prosectuors’ investigation into former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) suspected role in a case of alleged embezzlement and money-laundering. She was never indicted.
■ FISHERIES
NZ looking for 29 fishermen
The New Zealand Air Force began searching yesterday for 29 fishermen whose burned-out boat was found floating near the Phoenix Islands in Kiribati earlier this month. An initial search for the Taiwanese vessel failed to find any sign of the fishermen after New Zealand Orion aircraft covered about 30 percent of the 54,000km² search area, rescue officials said. The search is scheduled to resume today after the aircraft refuels in Samoa, Rescue Coordination Center spokesman Ross Henderson said. The burned-out fishing boat, the Ta Ching 21, was found deserted but still afloat by a South Korean fishing vessel on Nov. 9. A search of the boat revealed three life rafts and a rescue boat were missing, raising hopes the crew had been able to safely abandon the vessel, Henderson said. The last radio transmission from the fishing boat — crewed by Taiwanese, Chinese, Filipinos and Indonesians — was on Oct. 28 and there was no indication of problems. Air Commodore Gavin Howse said the air force was advised of the missing men on Monday.
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)
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
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
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