■POLITICS
No ‘push’ for raise
The Presidential Office denied yesterday that it had pushed for raises for the secretaries-general of the Presidential Office and the National Security Council (NSC). Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said that Presidential Office Secretary-General Chan Chun-po (詹春柏) and NSC Secretary-General Su Chi (蘇起) would respect the legislature’s decision on whether to increase their salaries. The legislature is reviewing a bill on political appointees’ salaries. Minister of Civil Service Chang Che-chen (張哲琛) said the raises were necessary because the salaries for the two positions were equal with those of the heads of other government branches. The legislature resolved in 2004 to lower the pay of the Presidential Office NSC secretaries-general to the level of government ministers.
■POLITICS
Ma to sign UN covenants
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) is scheduled to sign two UN covenants tomorrow, the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy said yesterday. The foundation is planning to hold a news conference today to urge the Ma administration to use the international conventions in amending the controversial Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法). The amendments to the act have raised tensions between the ruling and opposition parties, with the opposition vowing to block the amendments on the legislative floor. Ma supports the proposal but has asked the Cabinet to reduce the fine for violators. At Ma’s behest, the legislature on March 31 ratified the UN’s International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights — 42 years after the nation signed them. The legislature also approved the Act Governing Execution of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (公民與政治權利國際公約及經濟社會文化權利國際公約施行法), making the two covenants legally binding. The Presidential Office has blamed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the delay in signing the two covenants.
■PETROLEUM
CPC plans expansion
State-owned oil refiner CPC Corp is expected to further cooperation with the China-based Chinese National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), which will expand the range of their oil exploration ventures to cover the northern continental areas of the South China Sea, Ministry of Economic Affairs officials said yesterday. The two sides reached a consensus on the issue in March during a visit to Beijing by CPC executives, and are likely to sign the contract by the end of this year, the officials said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
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