■POSTAL SERVICE
Post Office to lick corruption
Postal company Chunghwa Post will issue a set of stamps on Wednesday to mark International Anti-Corruption Day, the company said yesterday. The set will comprise two stamps, one with a denomination of NT$5 and one of NT$25, the company said. Differing only in color and denomination, the two stamps will feature the same design: a globe with latitude and longitude lines that form the Chinese character “lian,” meaning “clean and honest.” “The image conveys the idea that Taiwan is taking the lead in promoting clean and competent government and its determination in implementing anti-corruption efforts,” the statement reads. First day covers will be sold from Monday.
■HEALTH
More suffer sleepless nights
The number of people in Taiwan suffering from chronic insomnia has nearly doubled in three years, as economic worries caused by the global downturn have brought more sleepless nights, a study showed yesterday. Nearly 5 million, or 21.8 percent of the population, have chronic insomnia, compared with 11.5 percent three years ago, the study from the Taiwan Society of Sleep Medicine said. The study also found that people with sleeping problems had a higher risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes, the society said in a statement. The hike in sleeplessness was largely caused by unemployment as the nation plunged into recession late last year, it said. Chronic insomnia is defined as three sleepless nights in a week with the symptoms lasting for more than a month. More than 60 percent of the 4,000 people interviewed for the study also complained about waking up at night or having difficulties falling asleep within 30 minutes.
■ENTERTAINMENT
Hakka TV scoops awards
Taiwan’s Hakka Television Station won the Best Drama Series and Best Single Drama categories at the 14th Asia Television Awards (ATA) ceremony in Singapore on Thursday. Entering the competition for the first time to compete against programs from networks such as Discovery and National Geographic Channel Asia, Hakka TV earned nominations in four categories. The Best Drama Series award was given to Hakka TV’s 1895 in Formosa, which depicts a love story set during a Hakka revolt against the Japanese. The Best Single Drama award went to Hakka TV’s Love in the Season of Osmanthus, a comedy in which three middle-aged men try to rob a security van. Hakka TV director Hsu Chin-yun (徐青雲) said the station spends considerable effort on the cast, plot and production of dramas, which serve to promote Hakka culture.
■TOURISM
Visitor No. 4 million expected
The four-millionth tourist to Taiwan this year is expected to arrive today, which would be the first time this mark has been reached, the Tourism Bureau said yesterday. The lucky visitor will receive a debit card with a cash value of NT$400,000 (US$12,400) for exclusive use in Taiwan during their visit, bureau officials said. He or she will also receive many other gifts. The Tourism Bureau launched an incentive offer this year as part of a program to increase the number of visitors. The 1 millionth, 2 millionth and 3 millionth visitors also received debit cards earlier this year, but with a lower value. The bureau, in conjunction with the Northeast Coast and Guanyinshan National Scenic Area Administration and Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, is also staging two photo exhibitions at the airport until Feb. 28.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
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
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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