US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday said the mere fact China can get so worked up over a US official’s visit to Taiwan only goes to reflect its “weakness.” “I think that tells you a lot about the weakness of the Chinese Communist Party and the fact that it could feel threatened from such a visit,” Pompeo said in an interview on the conservative Newsmax TV when asked what message Washington was sending to Beijing with the visit of US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to Taiwan this week. Even though the visit has had a clear political component, Pompeo said the sole purpose of Azar’s visit was to learn how Taiwan has dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic and better understand the “Wuhan virus.” “I’m always surprised that when the United States sends its health minister to another country why anyone would find that so threatening,” he said. “He went there for the noble humanitarian purpose of reducing risk to citizens all across the world, including Chinese citizens,” Pompeo said. “It seems pretty weak when the mere presence of a health minister in a particular place working to defeat this global pandemic you find threatening or you find angering or you find somehow challenging to your very nation’s national security,” Pompeo added. Asked what would be the red line that would lead the US to go in and defend Taiwan, Pompeo called it “a very sensitive issue.” “We thoroughly intend to uphold our obligations and commitments with respect to the historical understandings between the United States and China on Taiwan,” he said, stressing that the visit by Azar’s delegation was “wholly consistent with those commitments.” “We’ve told both the Chinese and the Taiwanese that we are going to continue to abide by that set of understandings,” he
DEFENDING A FREE PRESS: Hong Kongers lined up across the territory to buy copies of Lai’s newpaper, which ended up printing more than five times its normal print run
Hong Kong’s Apple Daily tabloid yesterday responded with defiance to the arrest of owner Jimmy Lai (黎智英) under a new National Security Law imposed by Beijing, promising to fight on in a front-page headline over an image of Lai in handcuffs. Readers began lining up in the early hours to get copies of the pro-democracy tabloid, one day after police raided the headquarters of Lai’s Next Digital (壹傳媒) group and the newpaper’s offices and took Lai into detention, the highest-profile arrest under the new law. “Apple Daily must fight on,” the front-page headline read, amid fears the new law erodes media freedoms in the territory. “The prayers and encouragement of many readers and writers make us believe that as long as there are readers, there will be writers, and that Apple Daily shall certainly fight on,” it said. More than 500,000 copies were printed, compared with the usual 100,000, the paper said on its Web site. Mainland-born Lai, who was smuggled into Hong Kong on a fishing boat when he was a penniless 12-year-old, is one of the most prominent democracy advocates in the territory and an ardent critic of the Chinese Communist Party’s rule. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Monday called Lai a “patriot,” saying Beijing had “eviscerated” Hong Kong’s freedoms. The UK said Lai’s arrest was further evidence the security law was a “pretext to silence opposition,” to which China’s embassy replied by urging London to stop “using freedom of the press as an excuse to discredit” the law. Police detained Lai for suspected collusion with foreign forces after about 200 officers searched the newspaper’s offices, collecting 25 boxes of what they said was evidence. Handcuffed and apparently wearing the same clothes after spending the night in jail, he was driven by police yesterday to his yacht, which police searched, according to media
Hong Kong’s government should immediately release all the pro-democracy protesters it has arrested and stop arresting people for alleged contraventions of the territory’s new National Security Law, representatives from nearly a dozen civic groups, including the New School For Democracy and Amnesty International Taiwan, said in Taipei yesterday, as they urged changes to the Act Governing Relations with Hong Kong and Macau (香港澳門關係條例). “The government in Taiwan should also quickly stipulate the rules of enforcement under Article 18 of the act, which would ensure that Taiwan’s humanitarian aid for Hong Kongers is administered on a legal basis, rather than the goodwill of the president and the ruling party,” the representatives told a news conference as they announced several petitions aimed at Taiwan’s government and Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s (林鄭月娥) administration. Their appeal came one day after Jimmy Lai (黎智英), two of his sons and four executives of his Next Digital (壹傳媒) group were arrested for contravening the territory’s new legislation, as well as high-profile democracy advocate Agnes Chow (周庭) and two other young activists, who were accused of trying to incite others to split China. “The government should review the rules governing the management of the investments from Hong Kong and ban the police and government officials from the Chinese territory from entering the country. This would safeguard Taiwan’s democratic system by preventing “red capital” from infiltrating the nation,” the civic groups said. “Taiwan and international society should continue monitoring the political situation in Hong Kong and ask the Chinese regime to abide by its legal obligations as stated in the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong. Taiwan’s government should coordinate with officials in other nations in imposing sanctions against China, as well as preparing for the arrival of more migrants from Hong Kong,” they said. New School For Democracy
The resignation of Lebanon’s government deepened political uncertainty as Beirut yesterday marked one week since the deadly port explosion rocked the capital and shook the nation to its core. The blast, the country’s worst peacetime tragedy, which killed at least 160 people and wounded more than 6,000, is widely blamed on state negligence and has ignited unprecedented popular rage against the ruling class. Under pressure from all sides, Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab on Monday night announced his government’s resignation, even as protesters clashed with riot police near his office for a third consecutive evening of street violence. In his speech, the 61-year-old sought to cast himself as a champion of the struggle against a cartel of corrupt political overlords, despite the fact that many Lebanese have long regarded him as their puppet rather than a victim. As the shattered and traumatized capital city licked its wounds, its streets still filled with the sound of broken glass being swept away, people welcomed news of the Cabinet’s resignation with mixed feelings. Some saw it as a victory for the protest movement that already forced out the previous government last year. Others warned that, given the power of Lebanon’s factions and family clans, the same old faces may be back before too long. “It’s a long fight that won’t end in a month or two,” said Hussein El Achi, an activist and lawyer defending the resurgent protest camp. Some observers argue that the massive extra burden and the deep popular anger over the tragedy will reduce the room for maneuver of Lebanon’s politicians, who also face pressure to agree as a condition for foreign assistance. “They will find it very difficult to avoid the kind of structural reforms that the international community has made a precondition for any aid,” said Bassel Salloukh, a political science professor at the Lebanese American
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday met with US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar in the highest-level official meeting between the two nations since 1979. “It is a true honor to be here to convey a message of strong support and friendship from [US] President [Donald] Trump to Taiwan,” Azar said during the open portion of his courtesy call to the Presidential Office, which was streamed live online before Tsai and Azar held a closed-door meeting. “Taiwan’s response to COVID-19 has been among the most successful in the world, and that is a tribute to the open, transparent, democratic nature of Taiwan’s society and culture,” Azar said. The US has expressed its admiration for Taiwan’s democratic success in tangible ways, such as signing legislation to strengthen the bilateral partnership and opening a new American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) complex in Taipei in 2018, Azar said. The focus of his trip was to highlight Taiwan’s success in combating the COVID-19 pandemic and to build cooperation to prevent, detect and respond to health threats, he said. Tsai said that she hoped the US delegation’s visits to various government agencies and institutions would give them a substantive view of Taiwan’s efforts to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. “The visit also provides us an opportunity to speak face-to-face on issues of importance to both sides and find a direction to future cooperation,” Tsai said. She thanked the US for recognizing Taiwan’s contribution to the global coronavirus response and for supporting its efforts to expand its international participation. She also raised the issue of Taiwan’s exclusion from the World Health Assembly (WHA), which has been largely due to China’s objections. “The decision to bar Taiwan from participation in the WHA is a violation of the universal right to health,” she said. Azar, who arrived on Sunday,
TWO SONS TOO: While police did not released the names of the nine others arrested, a pro-democracy Web site said that they included the eldest two of Lai’s four sons
Hong Kong authorities yesterday broadened their enforcement of a new National Security Law, arresting tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英), searching the headquarters of his Next Digital (壹傳媒) group and carting away boxes of what they said was evidence. The police action marked the first time the law was used against news media, stoking fears that authorities are suppressing press freedom. Next Digital operates the Chinese-language Apple Daily, which last year frequently urged readers to take part in the anti-government protests. Hong Kong police arrested Lai, 71, yesterday morning, an aide to the businessman said, in the highest-profile detention under the new law since it took effect on June 30. Mark Simon, a Next Digital executive and Lai’s aide, said Lai was charged with collusion with foreign powers. He said police searched the homes of Lai and two of his sons and detained four other members of the media company. Hong Kong police said they arrested at nine men and one woman between the ages of 23 and 72 on suspicion of violating the new security legislation, with offenses including collusion with a foreign country and conspiracy to defraud. They did not release the names of those arrested or provide further details of the charges. However, the pro-democracy Stand News Web site reported that Lai’s eldest son, Lai Kin-yan (黎見恩), was wanted for conspiracy to defraud, while his second son, Lai Yiu-yan (黎耀恩), was wanted for colluding with foreign countries or foreign forces to endanger national security. Following Jimmy Lai’s arrest, about 200 police raided Next Digital’s headquarters, cordoning off the area, searching desks and at times getting into heated exchanges with staff. What police were looking for in the building was not clear, although they later said they took away 25 boxes of evidence for processing. Jimmy Lai, who was arrested at his mansion in Kowloon, was
Taiwan yesterday condemned the arrests of seven democracy advocates in Hong Kong, including tycoon Jimmy Lai (黎智英), calling them “regrettable” and “gravely harmful to Hong Kong’s freedom of the press, human rights and democracy.” “Hong Kong authorities should rid their city of controversy, not rid it of people. Only through sincere dialogue with Hong Kong people can the city’s problems be solved,” Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said. Taiwan would continue to stand with the people of Hong Kong and support democracy in the territory, which is a universal value, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council criticized the national security legislation that Beijing imposed on the territory as the suppression of human rights, and characterized it as a clear purge of its administration and the expansion of Beijing’s hegemony. This type of action would only lead to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) putting itself further at odds with Hong Kongers, and tarnish the international image of China and Hong Kong, it said. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) denounced law enforcement authorities in the territory for imposing a “red terror” under the guise of the National Security Law. Police are arresting people on trumped-up charges, which only serves to earn them contempt, the DPP said. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) voiced regret over the arrests, saying that freedom of the press is the basis for democracy and rule of law, and the Hong Kong government’s latest actions have destroyed the public’s trust in it. The KMT supports Hong Kongers’ struggle for democracy and rule of law, Chiang said. While the Taiwan Statebuilding Party cautioned Taiwanese to avoid travel to Hong Kong, given the CCP’s power to directly intervene in local affairs through use of the new legislation, the New Power Party (NPP) urged the council to quickly explain whether Taiwanese could be arrested while transiting
China yesterday announced unspecified sanctions against 11 US politicians and heads of organizations promoting democratic causes, including US senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) said the 11 had “performed badly” on issues concerning Hong Kong. The number of Americans named by the ministry equals exactly the number of Hong Kong and Chinese officials placed on a sanctions list by the US last week over the crackdown in the territory after Beijing’s imposition of national security legislation, including Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥). “The relevant actions of the US blatantly intervened in Hong Kong affairs, grossly interfered in China’s internal affairs, and seriously violated international law and the basic norms of international relations,” Zhao told a daily briefing. “China urges the US to have a clear understanding of the situation, correct mistakes, and immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs and ... China’s internal affairs.” Washington’s sanctions “will only make the world more aware of US hegemony, bullying and double standards,” he said. Also on the list are US senators Josh Hawley, Tom Cotton and Pat Toomey, US Representative Chris Smith, National Endowment for Democracy president Carl Gershman, National Democratic Institute president Derek Mitchell, International Republican Institute president Daniel Twining, Human Rights Watch executive director Kenneth Roth and Freedom House president Michael Abramowitz.
The Central Weather Bureau yesterday issued sea and land alerts for Tropical Storm Mekkhala as it threatens Penghu and Kinmen counties, as well as vessels in the Bashi Channel and Taiwan Strait. The bureau issued the alert at 10:30am, even before the Japan Meteorological Agency — which is in charge of naming the tropical storms or typhoons in the northwestern Pacific Ocean — assigned the storm a name, as its data indicated that a tropical depression system in the south had become a tropical storm. The Japanese agency did not name the storm Mekkhala until 11am, the bureau said. The storm’s center was 230km southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) at 8:30pm, and it was moving north at 21kph, bureau data showed. The land alert applies to Penghu and Kinmen, whereas the sea alert was issued to vessels operating in the Bashi Channel and Taiwan Strait, as well as those near the north coast of Taiwan proper and the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). Bureau forecaster Lo Ya-yin (羅雅尹) said that Mekkhala was expected to affect the nation from last night until this morning, adding that the wind in Penghu could reach level 10 to 11 on the Beaufort scale, when the storm would come closest to the islands at midnight. The wind in Kinmen could reach level 10 to 12 early this morning, whereas the wind to the south of Taichung, along the north coast, in the northeast and around the Matsu archipelago, could reach level 8 to 9, Lo said. The storm’s center would move very close to Kinmen this morning, Lo said, adding that the bureau does not exclude the possibility of it making landfall there. “Overall, the storm’s projected path appears to move slightly westward. As such, residents in Penghu and Kinmen should beware of damage caused by strong winds and extremely heavy
SCHEDULE: The delegation is due to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen this morning and witness the signing of an MOU on bilateral health cooperation in the afternoon
US Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar yesterday arrived in Taipei aboard a US government plane at the head of a delegation that is the highest-level visit by a US official since Washington switched diplomatic recognition to China in 1979. Azar’s flight landed at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) at 4:48pm, nearly one hour earlier than scheduled, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The apron where it landed is reserved for military aircraft, the Songshan Air Force Base Command said. The members of Azar’s delegation included HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Robert Kadlec, HHS Chief of Staff Brian Harrison and American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty. They were welcomed on the apron by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光), Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Chou Jih-haw (周志浩) and AIT Director Brent Christensen. After a short talk with the officials, Azar waved to reporters. The visitors were then given COVID-19 tests in the airport’s VIP guest room, after having had one in the US, the ministry said. While in Taiwan, the visitors would be kept in a “diplomatic bubble.” They would be transported in special vehicles, would stay on a designated hotel floor and be kept separate from members of the public, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) has said. The delegation is to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) this morning and witness the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on bilateral health cooperation with Chen in the afternoon. The MOU would be signed by Christensen and Taiwan Council for US Affairs Chairperson Jenni Yang (楊珍妮) at the CDC in Taipei, the AIT said. Tomorrow, Azar is scheduled to visit Taiwanese mask manufacturers and deliver a speech to public health graduate students and alumni of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention training program, a source
CONTROLS: The CECC tightened its border policy because of the high infection numbers in the Philippines and a high positivity rate among travelers from there
Starting on Wednesday, all travelers from the Philippines would be placed in centralized quarantine facilities for 14 days after being tested for COVID-19 at the airport upon arriving in Taiwan, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The center made the announcement as it confirmed a new imported COVID-19 case — a Taiwanese woman who had returned from the Philippines. The CECC tightened its border control policy after about 3,500 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the Philippines daily over the past two weeks and a high positivity rate was detected among travelers from that nation, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center. Taiwanese and foreign nationals who hold an Alien Resident Certificate or a resident visa would not need to pay for their stay at a quarantine facility, the CECC said. Other foreign nationals traveling from the Philippines would be required to present a certificate showing that they do not have COVID-19 obtained within three days of their departure for Taiwan, and also pay NT$1,500 per night for their stay at a quarantine facility, it said. Among the 762 travelers who arrived from the Philippines in June, 12 were tested for COVID-19 at the airport for having symptoms, but none came out positive, Chen said. From July 1 to July 25, 19 of 727 arrivals from the Philippines were tested at the airport for having symptoms, four of whom, or 21.1 percent, tested positive, and another two later tested positive during home quarantine, he said. However, after a policy was introduced requiring all travelers from the Philippines to be tested upon arrival, 278 people were tested from July 26 and Saturday, 14 of whom tested positive, which is a positivity rate of 5 percent, Chen said. The rate is much higher than the 0.03 percent for travelers who arrived
A Japanese delegation of parliamentarians from across party lines, led by former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori, yesterday paid their respects to the late former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) at a memorial at the Taipei Guest House. Lee died on July 30, aged 97. The Japanese delegation arrived at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) on a chartered plane at 2:35pm yesterday. They visited President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the Presidential Office Building at 4pm, before heading to the memorial at 5pm. At the Presidential Office, Tsai thanked the delegation for their visit, and their long-term support and contributions to Japan-Taiwan relations. Tsai especially thanked Mori for allowing Lee to visit Japan after he stepped down from the presidency, and also thanked Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso for speaking boldly in support of Taiwan’s participation in the World Health Assembly on many occasions. She said that she hopes Taiwan and Japan can share information on the COVID-19 pandemic and the development of vaccines and medication, and continue to reinforce their good relationship. Mori delivered a condolence message from Abe and expressed his gratitude and respect for Lee’s contributions to the Japan-Taiwan relationship. He also said that he hopes the two nations can continue to be friends forever. To avoid close contact with other people, the delegation, all wearing masks, arrived at the Taipei Guest House after it had been closed to the public at 5pm. Mori presented flowers and offered his condolences to Lee’s daughter, Annie Lee (李安妮). Lee Teng-hui made many contributions to international society, and while Japanese lacked confidence after World War II, he always encouraged them to be courageous and proud, Mori said. He said it would probably take a hour for him to describe his deep relationship with Lee Teng-hui, but he always believed that he made the correct decision when
Belarus’ opposition candidate for president went into hiding the night before challenging the country’s long-time leader, Alexander Lukashenko, yesterday in the country’s most dynamic election in a generation. Svetlana Tikhanovskaya left her apartment after authorities on Saturday arrested her campaign manager and detained one of her two top allies before the crucial vote. She voted publicly in Minsk yesterday afternoon. Tikhanovskaya, a 37-year-old English teacher and translator, stood for election after authorities barred her husband, popular blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, from running and then jailed him. She swiftly emerged as 65-year-old Lukashenko’s strongest rival and her rallies drew tens of thousands of supporters across the country. Her presidential bid has sparked widespread calls for change in the ex-Soviet country of 9.5 million people, which Lukashenko has ruled with a firm grip for the past 26 years. One polling station in central Minsk was unusually busy with voters standing in line for ballot papers, a reporter saw. Many wore white bracelets after Tikhanovskaya urged her supporters to wear them. “We are waiting for changes,” said one voter, a 60-year-old woman speaking on condition of anonymity. She added that she voted for a “new president,” Tikhanovskaya, because she “promises us the possibility of choice and changes.” Tikhanovskaya has said she is not a politician, describing herself as an “ordinary woman, a mother and wife.” She has campaigned in an all-women team with the wife of one barred opposition chief and the campaign manager of another. She has said that if she wins she will call fresh elections that include the entire opposition, including those in detention. Political observers said that Lukashenko, who is seeking a sixth term, would rig the vote in the absence of international observers. A record 41.7 percent of voters took part in early voting, the Central Election Commission reported, with observers saying this made it easier to manipulate the count.
Lebanese protesters enraged by official negligence blamed for Beirut’s enormous and deadly explosion yesterday vowed to rally again after a night of street clashes in which they stormed several ministries. “Prepare the gallows because our anger doesn’t end in one day,” said one message circulating on social media in response to Tuesday’s earthquake-strength blast of a huge pile of industrial chemicals. The calls for renewed protests came as French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris was to oversee a UN-backed virtual donors conference to raise aid for Lebanon, a country already mired in a painful economic crisis. In Beirut, the fury on the streets has further shaken the embattled government of Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab, which saw its first Cabinet resignation when Minister of Information Manal Abdel Samad quit yesterday. “After the enormous Beirut catastrophe, I announce my resignation from government,” she said, apologizing to citizens for having failed them. The revelation that Lebanese state officials had long tolerated a ticking time bomb in the heart of the capital has served as shocking proof to many Lebanese of the rot at the core of the state apparatus. The death toll from the explosion of a long-neglected pile of ammonium nitrate yesterday stood at 158 people, with 60 still reported missing, and a 6,000 wounded, many by flying glass as the shockwave tore through the city. The blast, whose mushroom cloud reminded many of an atomic bomb, left a 43m deep crater at Beirut’s port, a security official said, citing French experts working in the disaster area. The mood was one of grief and fury in Beirut, a day after many of the dead were laid to rest and when thousands demonstrated in the biggest anti-government rally the country has seen in months. The army on Saturday used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear hundreds of protesters from
PARTNERSHIP AND LEARNING: A Princeton University health policy researcher said that the nation would be a ‘treasure trove’ of information for the US health chief
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar on Friday said he wants to learn about Taiwan’s “incredibly effective” response to COVID-19, even though the nation did things that the US has fumbled, such as having a unified strategy and citizens willing to wear masks. Azar leads a US delegation arriving today for a three-day visit to Taiwan. They are to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and health system leaders, and Azar is to give a speech to public health graduates. “The message of this trip is about Taiwan,” Azar said in an interview, deflecting a question about China. “It’s about public health, it’s about our partnership with Taiwan, but also the model that Taiwan offers to the world community of a transparent and open healthcare system. It is a model others can learn from.” The trip is a geopolitical chess move in Washington’s contentious relationship with China, which has voiced concerns about the trip to Washington and called on the US to stop government-to-government interactions with Taiwan. Azar called Taiwan’s coronavirus response “incredibly effective” and said that he is willing to “learn from them about their responses.” It is not too late for the US, said a leading expert on Taiwan’s healthcare system, Cheng Tsung-mei (鄭宗美), a Princeton University health policy research analyst. “It will be good if our health chief can learn from Taiwan, how exactly they did it,” Cheng said. “It’s really a treasure trove of very useful information as to how you could effectively control and contain the spread of the virus.” Taiwan had direct experience with an earlier respiratory virus known as SARS, so it did not take the novel coronavirus lightly. A government-run healthcare system allowed public health authorities to mobilize resources to track and contain cases, and citizens were willing to follow public health
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has instructed government departments to implement proper disease prevention measures and diplomatic arrangements as three foreign delegations visit Taiwan this month. The visitors are a delegation of Japanese parliamentarians led by former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori to pay their respects to late president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) at a memorial in Taipei today; a delegation led by US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar to exchange ideas on disease prevention, also today; and a delegation led by Czech Senate President Milos Vystrcil later this month. Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials and Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who also heads the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), told Su in a briefing that disease prevention measures for the delegations are to be handled as special diplomatic cases. The members of the US delegation need to provide Taiwanese authorities a negative result for COVID-19 from a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test conducted within three days of their departure, and must be tested again upon arriving in Taiwan. They would also be traveling as a group and staying on a designated floor of a quarantine hotel, where they would use a separate elevator. The Japanese delegation would need to provide negative results for COVID-19 from a PCR test conducted within two days of boarding their airplane, maintain proper social distancing, wear masks at all times, and travel with designated drivers and vehicles during their one-day visit. Before their trip, members of the Czech delegation are to undergo a two-week quarantine and present two negative test results for COVID-19, Vystrcil has said. Foreign delegations that visit during the COVID-19 pandemic cannot have close contact with members of the public in Taiwan, so people do not need to be concerned, Executive Yuan spokesman Ting Yi-ming (丁怡銘) said. Yesterday, the CECC reported two confirmed COVID-19
In a reversal of an earlier court decision, independent Legislator Chao Cheng-yu (趙正宇) was yesterday detained with restricted communications, becoming the fourth lawmaker to be detained for alleged involvement in a department store bribery case. The three other lawmakers are Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Chen Chao-ming (陳超明) and Sufin Siluko (廖國棟), and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Su Chen-ching (蘇震清). Chao was released after posting bail of NT$1 million (US$33,882) on Sunday last week, but Taipei prosecutors applied again on Thursday to detain him. The judge agreed with prosecutors after they provided evidence of Chao’s alleged involvement in the case and said that he could flee abroad to evade prosecution. Chao was transported to the Taipei Detention Center in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城) yesterday afternoon. The four legislators, as well as two politicians who have been granted bail — former New Power Party chairman Hsu Yung-ming (徐永明) and former DPP legislator Mark Chen (陳唐山) — have been listed as suspects for allegedly contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), among other charges. The court on Friday rejected prosecutors’ second request to detain Hsu. During the investigation, Chao was implicated in a different bribery case, as a raid found NT$9.2 million in cash in a paper bag at his residence, allegedly from two mortuary companies. Chao allegedly pressured the Construction and Planning Agency to rezone an area within Yangmingshan National Park so that it could be converted into a cemetery and used by mortuaries. Chao’s office director Lin Chia-chi (林家騏) was detained with restricted communications on Sunday last week. Also held incommunicado were Su’s office director, Yu Hsueh-yang (余學洋), and Sufin’s office director, Ting Fu-hua (丁復華). Former Pacific Distribution Investment Co (太平洋流通) chairman Lee Heng-lung (李恆隆) and Kuo Ke-ming (郭克銘), a political lobbyist and general manager of Knowledge International Consultancy (是知管理顧問公司), have also been detained on suspicion of giving the
UNPERTURBED? Hong Kong Liaison Office Director Luo Huining, who was targeted along with Carrie Lam, said that he does not ‘have a dime’s worth’ of foreign assets
China yesterday slammed the US for imposing “barbarous” sanctions in response to Beijing’s crackdown in Hong Kong, capping a dramatic week of deteriorating relations between the world’s two biggest economies. In the toughest US action on Hong Kong since China imposed national security legislation on the territory, Washington on Friday sanctioned a group of Chinese and Hong Kong officials — including Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam (林鄭月娥). The move came after US President Donald Trump’s administration forced Chinese Internet giants TikTok and WeChat to end all operations in the US. China yesterday criticized the sanctions as “barbarous and rude.” “The ill intentions of US politicians to support people who are anti-China and messing up Hong Kong have been clearly revealed,” Beijing’s Hong Kong Liaison Office said in a statement. The US Department of the Treasury announced that it was freezing the US assets of Lam and 10 other senior officials, including Hong Kong Liaison Office Director Luo Huining (駱惠寧). It accused the sanctioned individuals of being “directly responsible for implementing Beijing’s policies of suppression of freedom and democratic processes.” The move criminalizes any US financial transactions with the sanctioned officials. In a short statement, Luo said that he welcomed the blacklisting. “I have done what I should do for the country and for Hong Kong,” he said. “I don’t have a dime’s worth in foreign assets.” The Hong Kong government described the sanctions as “shameless and despicable.” “We will fully support the central government to adopt countermeasures,” it said in a statement. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the security legislation contravened promises made by China ahead of Hong Kong’s 1997 handover from Britain that the territory could keep key freedoms and autonomy for 50 years. “Today’s actions send a clear message that the Hong Kong authorities’ actions are unacceptable,” Pompeo said in a statement. As well as Luo and Lam, the
Fierce rain and winds lashed a plane carrying 190 people before it crash-landed and tore in two at an airport in southern India, killing at least 18 people and injuring scores more, officials said yesterday. The Air India Express Boeing 737, on a special flight from Dubai to bring back Indians stranded by the COVID-19 pandemic, overshot the runway at Kozhikode International Airport in Kerala State late on Friday, plunged down an embankment and broke up. “Fuel had leaked out, so it was a miracle that the plane did not catch fire, the toll could have been much higher,” one senior emergency official at the scene said. Passenger Renjith Panangad, 34, recalled the plane touching the ground and then everything went “blank.” “After the crash, the emergency door opened and I dragged myself out somehow,” he told reporters from a hospital bed in Kozhikode. “The front part of the plane was gone — it was completely gone. I don’t know how I made it, but I’m grateful. I am still shaken.” The impact was so brutal that the nose of the Boeing 737 was left about 20m from the back half of the jet. “All that we could hear were screams all around. People were soaked in blood everywhere, some had fractures, some were unconscious,” said local resident Fazal Puthiyakath, who was among the first at the scene. Indian Minister of State for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri put the latest death toll at 18. Authorities said that 22 people were in critical condition in hospital. The fatalities included the two pilots, as well as four children. Kozhikode is considered a tricky airport, as it has a table-top runway with a steep drop at one end. Heavy rains had been falling for several hours at Kozhikode as the jet landed. Indian media quoted air traffic control officials and a flight tracker
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