■ENVIRONMENT
Alishan up in flames
Firefighters fought a forest fire on Alishan for more than 24 hours, Chiayi County forestry officials said on Friday. The officials said forest police were investigating whether the fire was caused by arsonists, as the fire occurred in a remote, uninhabited area. Officials said the fire broke out at about 11am on Thursday near Hsiangshanmei Village. The Chiayi Forest District Office dispatched 34 workers to the scene. As there were no sources of water, firebreaks had to be used to contain the flames. The method, frequently used by forest management services, involves clearing trees, brush and vegetation to leave a path of bare soil so there is no vegetation to feed the flames. By Friday morning, the fire was under control, but firefighters were still at the scene as of late Friday afternoon to monitor the cinders to ensure they did not reignite. About 0.4 hectares of trees and vegetation were destroyed, the officials said.
■CRIME
Kuang under investigation
Taitung County Commissioner Kuang Li-chen (鄺麗貞) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is under investigation as a defendant in a corruption case, the Taitung District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Kuang was being investigated for allegedly using government funds for a private trip to the Europe in July, Taitung Chief Prosecutor Hsu Chien-jung (許建榮) said. Hsu said the prosecutors’ office had received “many anonymous tips” about the case since the investigation was launched last year. Investigators would need more time because it concerns many potential defendants in addition to Kuan, Hsu said.
■SOCIETY
Group seeks safe pet food
An animal rights group is calling on the government to formulate regulations to ensure the safety of pet food following the recent deaths of more than 300 dogs from contaminated food. Huang Ching-jung (黃慶榮), secretary-general of the Animal Protection Association of the Republic of China, said that test results released by the animal hospital at National Taiwan University confirmed an earlier report by the Council of Agriculture that 200 dogs in a shelter in Bali (八里), Taipei County, died earlier this year after eating aflatoxin-contaminated food. Huang said the government should regulate the pet food industry, adding that tests for aflatoxin, melamine and pesticide should be part of the regulations. Hsu Tien-lai (許天來), chief of the council’s Animal Husbandry Department, said there is no law to regulate pet food sold in Taiwan and that the council would draft a bill in six months.
■DEVELOPMENT
Group heads for Brunei
A group of academics from Mingdao University will head for Brunei on Tuesday to provide guidance on the development of post-modern and organic agriculture in the Southeast Asian country. The delegation, led by university president Wang Da-yung (汪大永), was invited by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei to provide advice on how to develop a sustainable agricultural sector, said Cheng Chieh-ta (鄭皆達), director of the university’s Office for International Affairs. During the four-day visit, the delegation is expected to meet the sultan, experts and officials at a forum on agricultural technology and go on field trips to gain a better understanding of the local geography, Cheng said. The sultan has said that aside from exploiting crude oil and natural gas, the country must also develop sustainable industries, including agriculture, prompting him to invite academics from abroad to exchange views with the government, Cheng said.
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)
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
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
WAR SIMULATION: The developers of the board game ‘2045’ consulted experts and analysts, and made maps based on real-life Chinese People’s Liberation Army exercises To stop invading Chinese forces seizing Taiwan, board gamer Ruth Zhong chooses the nuclear option: Dropping an atomic bomb on Taipei to secure the nation’s freedom and her victory. The Taiwanese board game 2045 is a zero-sum contest of military strategy and individual self-interest that puts players on the front lines of a simulated Chinese attack. Their battlefield game tactics would determine the theoretical future of Taiwan, which in the real world faces the constant threat of a Chinese invasion. “The most interesting part of this game is that you have to make continuous decisions based on the evolving situation,
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