■POLITICS
Tseng libel ruling upheld
The Supreme Court yesterday found former New Party legislator Elmer Feng (馮滬祥) and former Overseas Compatriots Commission member Tai Chi (戴錡) guilty of claiming that former president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) wife, Tseng Wen-hui (曾文惠), tried to take 54 suitcases stuffed with as much as US$850 million out of the country after the 2000 presidential election. The case of another former New Party legislator, Hsieh Chi-ta (謝啟大), who also played a role in the accusation against Tseng, was returned to the Taiwan High Court for further review. In 2002, Tseng won a libel suit against the trio over their accusations. The court yesterday handed down the ruling for the civil suit, ordering Feng and Tai each to pay a compensation of NT$2 million (US$63,000) to Tseng, and to publish half-page apology ads in three Chinese-language newspapers: the Liberty Times, United Daily News and China Times. Yesterday’s ruling was final.
■ DIPLOMACY
No Africa trip for Ma
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has decided not to visit the country’s diplomatic allies in Africa this year. Ma was reportedly scheduled to visit Burkina Faso, the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principle, Swaziland and the Republic of the Gambia in September. “President Ma has no plans to visit Africa this year on concerns over coming typhoon season. The year-end special municipality elections will also keep him busy,” Department of African Affairs Director-General Samuel Chen (陳士良) said. Ma would attend the annual Africa reception on May 25, organized by African ambassadors to celebrate African Liberation Day, a commemoration of their liberation from European colonial powers 50 years ago, Chen said. The ministry would also hold a series of events to celebrate the anniversary, he said
■ CRIME
'Prankster’ freed on bail
Taiwan-born Lin Nan-hai (林南海), who was held in China for allegedly claiming to have a bomb in his luggage, was released on bail yesterday after he was extradited to Taipei on Wednesday, a Taiwanese prosecutor said yesterday. Chinese authorities arrested Lin, who is a US citizen, on Saturday after he allegedly made the claim on a China Airlines flight bound for Shanghai, leading pilots to divert to Hangzhou. No explosives were found on the flight while Lin, 68, reportedly told Chinese police that he was only “making a joke.” Lin was released on bail of NT$20,000 (US$625), pending further investigation, the prosecutor said. He faces charges of violating the Civil Aviation Law (民用航空法), which carries a maximum three-year prison term and a fine of NT$1.5 million.
■ TRANSPORTATION
Kenting shuttle bus starts
An express bus service began this month for travelers heading from the Zuoying (左營) high speed rail station to Kenting (墾丁). The Kenting Express Line will make stops at Dapeng Bay (大鵬灣), Fangliao (枋寮) and five other spots in Pingtung County, with the one-way trip taking about two hours, the bureaus said. A one-way ticket costs NT$383. Between now and June 30, a roundtrip ticket will cost only NT$600. The bus is part of the Tourism Bureau’s efforts to encourage people to use the public transportation system when traveling. For more details on the service, visit www.taiwantrip.com.tw/ or http://www.kentingtrip.com.tw/.
Rain is to increase from Wednesday morning as Severe Tropical Storm Kong-Rey approaches, with sea warnings to be issued as early as tomorrow afternoon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. As of 8am, Kong-Rey was 1,050km east-southeast of the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) heading in a northwesterly direction toward Taiwan, CWA Forecast Center Director Lin Po-tung (林伯東) said. Rainfall is to increase from Wednesday morning, especially in northern Taiwan and Yilan County, he said. A sea warning is possible from tomorrow afternoon, while a land warning may be issued on Wednesday morning, he added. Kong-Rey may intensify into a moderate typhoon as it passes
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Taiwan yesterday issued warnings to four Chinese coast guard vessels that intruded into restricted waters around the Taiwan-controlled Kinmen Islands, according to the Coast Guard Administration (CGA). The four China Coast Guard ships were detected approaching restricted waters south of Kinmen at around 2 pm yesterday, the CGA’s Kinmen-Matsu Branch said in a statement. The CGA said it immediately deployed four patrol boats to closely monitor the situation. When the Chinese ships with the hull numbers "14512," "14609," "14603" and "14602" separately entered the restricted waters off Fuhsing islet (復興嶼), Zhaishan (翟山), Sinhu (新湖) and Liaoluo (料羅) at 3 pm, the Taiwanese patrol
A former member of the US Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), formerly known as SEAL Team 6, said in an interview with Business Insider that the elite unit’s role in a Taiwan Strait conflict would be more limited than some might expect. The report follows an earlier one in September by the Financial Times, which said the “clandestine US Navy commando unit” has been training for missions to help Taiwan if it is invaded by China. “You don’t use a scalpel for a job a hammer can do,” the former Navy Seal said to Business Insider on condition of anonymity.
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