■SOCIETY
Man bitten in sex assault
A man had to seek medical treatment after his genitals were bitten while forcing a homeless man to perform oral sex, local media reported yesterday. The incident occurred about 3am on Monday in Daya Park in Taichung County, the Apple Daily said. The man, surnamed Hou (侯), 31, who is homeless, was drunk and loitering in Taya Park when he saw a 60-year-old homeless man, identified only as Kuo (郭), sleeping under a pavilion. Hou woke Kuo up and asked him for money. When Kuo refused to give him money, Hou knocked Kuo to the ground. Kuo pulled himself up and walked into a toilet to urinate. Hou followed him into the toilet, grabbed Kuo’s head and forced Kuo to perform oral sex on him, the paper said. Kuo bit Hou’s genitals, drawing blood and causing Hou flee for help at a police station about 50m away. Police rushed Hou to Cheng Ching Hospital, where doctors said that Hou’s foreskin had several lacerations. Hou was given a tetanus shot and had his wounds treated. The function of his penis was not damaged. After police questioning, Hou was turned over for prosecution on sexual harassment charges.
■CULTURE
Wu mulls ‘Matsu Day’
Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) said yesterday he planned to include Taiwan’s Matsu religious culture in celebrations for the nation’s 100th birthday. When fielding questions from Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator Yen Chin-piao (顏清標), who doubles as chairman of the Da Jia Jenn Lann Temple — a major Matsu temple — the premier also promised to have the Ministry of the Interior consider designating the goddess’ birthday as a national memorial day. Matsu’s birthday falls on March 23 on the Lunar calendar.
■DIPLOMACY
MOFA pushes ‘digital’ ties
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to push for “digital diplomacy” by holding computer-related training sessions and expositions with its allies in Latin America, Weber Shih (施文斌), director-general of the ministry’s Department of Economic Affairs, said yesterday. Sharing Taiwan’s expertise in computers and information technology can help cement bilateral relations as well as bridge the digital gap, Shih said, citing as an example the Compu Expo held in the Dominican Republic early this month, which generated more than US$7.5 million in business opportunities. Taiwan also conducted a seminar on digital developments in Panama yesterday, he said, with more than 80 officials and computer experts from Taiwan, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama expected to attend.
■SOCIETY
Tianmu to hold tree festival
The Taipei City Government said yesterday that part of Tianmu, near Zhongcheng Rd Sec 2, will be closed to traffic on Saturday and Sunday in celebration of the Tianmu Flame Gold-rain Tree Festival. Initiated in 1996 by local businesses, the festival will run from 1pm to 6pm on Saturday and Sunday in front of Eslite Bookstore, featuring various performances and a make-up party. Benjamin Roan (阮燿斌), director of Tianmu Business Association, said the make-up party would be held at 4pm on Sunday, with participants invited to dress up according to the day’s theme — trees. Winners will also receive free coupons from local restaurants. The public is also encouraged to join a book donation activity. The festival takes its name from the approximately 1,600 flame gold-rain trees that stretch along Zhongcheng Road, with the leaves turning yellow and then red around September and October, Roan said.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
New Taipei City prosecutors have indicted a cram school teacher in Sinjhuang District (新莊) for allegedly soliciting sexual acts from female students under the age of 18 three times in exchange for cash payments. The man, surnamed Su (蘇), committed two offenses in 2023 and one last year, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. The office in recent days indicted Su for contraventions of the Child and Youth Sexual Exploitation Prevention Act (兒童及少年性剝削防制條例), which prohibits "engaging in sexual intercourse or lewd acts with a minor over the age of 16, but under the age of 18 in exchange for
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
RSS