CRIME
DPP offices burglarized
A burglar broke into the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, stealing NT$90,000, but documents and equipment were left intact, the party said in a statement yesterday. Surveillance footage showed that a man broke into the eighth floor of the building and was inside for about 10 minutes before leaving without taking any files, computers or equipment, the DPP said. The party reported the incident to the police, who are investigating it, according to the statement. The DPP headquarters is in the Huashan Business Building on 30 Beiping E Road. Local media later yesterday reported that the suspect is a South Korean who is listed by Interpol as a thief.
GOVERNMENT
MOI to relax firefighter rules
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to relax regulations on the recruitment of firefighters in an effort to increase the number of new recruits, the ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The revised rules would allow people older than 20 who have not spent time in prison in the past 10 years to apply as volunteer firefighters, regardless of their household registration address, the ministry said. Current regulations stipulate that people older than 20 who have not served time in prison or participated in court-ordered educational programs must reside at the address listed in their household registration to become volunteer firefighters.
SOCIETY
Nun receives citizenship
Philippine Catholic nun O Anuna, who has devoted almost half of her life to taking care of children with disabilities in Taiwan, yesterday officially became a Taiwanese citizen. “I am most joyful when with the children, and I am happy to be able to stay in Taiwan forever,” the 58-year-old sister said after receiving her Republic of China identification card from Chiayi County Commissioner Helen Chang (張花冠). Despite the challenges in taking care of children with disabilities she has encountered over the past 27 years, Anuna said that she has enjoyed the process, adding that her decision to become a Taiwanese citizen has also gained the support of her family. That she was given an ROC identification card shows that her love for the children has been appreciated, she said. Born in the Philippines in 1959, Anuna arrived in Taiwan in 1990 to serve at Sacred Heart Home, a charitable Catholic organization in Chiayi’s Dongshih Township (東石) that is dedicated to caring for individuals with moderate or severe disabilities.
TRANSPORTATION
Airport riders to pass 10m
Ridership on the Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line is expected to surpass 10 million by the end of the month, Taoyuan Metro Corp chairman Liu Kun-yi (劉坤億) said on Wednesday. The railway system had carried 8.6 million passengers as of the end of last month, about five months after it started commercial operations, Liu said. The line carries 54,000 passengers per day, with Taipei Main Station, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Airport Terminal 1, Airport Terminal 2 and Taoyuan High Speed Rail Station being the busiest stations, company statistics showed. The five stations account for 68 percent of total passengers using the line, with Taipei Main Station accounting for 2.25 million rides, or 26.1 percent, over the past five months. Taoyuan’s Hengshan and and Singnan stations are the least used, Liu said.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we