■MEDIA
Lawmaker pans NCC plan
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) yesterday voiced opposition to the National Communications Commission’s (NCC) proposal to relax restrictions on the government, political parties and the military from holding shares in media companies. The NCC said that while it was important for the three to stay out of the media, the rules had generated problems in some of the NCC’s rulings because some media corporations are publicly traded, meaning the government can purchase shares on the stock market. Lo yesterday said that allowing political parties to fund the media would be a setback to democracy. KMT Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇), however, said the NCC’s proposal was “practical.”
■TRANSPORTATION
TRA increases cruise trains
The Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) said yesterday that it would increase cruise train services next year because they had proven popular among travelers. TRA Deputy Director-General Chang Ying-huei (張應輝) said the TRA launched cruise train services in August last year to test the market response. Since then, the administration dispatched a total of 131 cruise trains. Approximately 27,000 passengers boarded the cruise trains, which helped generate revenue of NT$12.23 million (US$378,000) for the nation’s biggest railway system. “Tickets for cruise trains were sold quickly, with all the seats booked,” Chang said. Meanwhile, the TRA also published the first issue of its cruise train magazine for customers of cruise train services. The magazine introduces five major cruise train routes around the nation, and has a page for passengers to collect memorial stamps on the routes.
■SOCIETY
Designer wins red dot
Taiwan visual designer Lin Horng-jer (林宏澤) won a “best of the best” award in the communication design category of this year’s red dot design awards — the world’s biggest design competition. Lin, the first Taiwanese to win the title, was recognized for his project Save Me, which advocates nature conservation, Kaohsiung City’s Bureau of Cultural Affairs said. The piece is made up of three different images: a man embracing the Earth, a polar bear with melting icebergs in the background and three Formosan landlocked salmon — an endangered species from Taiwan. Lin is an associate professor at Tainan University of Technology’s Department of Visual Communication Design and president of the Taiwan Poster Design Association.
■CRIME
Cop stabbed 10 times
A policeman surnamed Lai (賴), 27, from Dazhi Police station in Taipei was stabbed more than 10 times in the neck and back by a crime suspect surnamed Dai (戴) on Monday evening. The policeman was pronounced dead after he was rushed to Mackay Memorial Hospital. The suspect, 50, was arrested by the military for taking pictures of the Hengshan Military Command Center in 2004 in accordance with the Military Stronghold And Fortress Terrain Act (要塞堡壘地帶法). But he fled after he was granted bail and had since been wanted by police. On Monday, Dai was arrested and taken under police escort in a car driven by Lai. Dai was not handcuffed nor was he searched before he was put in the backseat of the police car. When the car arrived at the police station, Dai took out a knife and stabbed Lai in a vain attempt to flee.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by