CTS OR TTV NEWS: Lawmakers asked why the NCC had approved some applications, but others were still pending, despite having been submitted at about the same time
TTV News could be broadcasting on channel 52 soon, with a review of applications from 15 cable operators to be completed by the end of this month, National Communications Commission (NCC) Chairman Chen Yaw-shyang (陳耀祥) said yesterday. The commission on March 31 approved applications from Homeplus Digital and three other cable operators to broadcast CTS News and Info on channel 52. CTS News and Info has since April 19 been available to 1.25 million subscribers over 15 cable systems across Taiwan, with 12 systems owned by Homeplus Digital and the other three operators. Collectively, they account for about 25 percent of the cable TV market. However, the commission has yet to rule on proposals from 15 other cable operators that TTV News be broadcast on channel 52. At a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hung Mong-kai (洪孟楷), and Democratic Progressive Party legislators Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) and Chen Ou-po (陳歐珀) asked why the commission quickly approved the applications from Homeplus and the other three operators after receiving their documents on Feb. 21, but did not show the same efficiency in its review of the applications from the other 15 firms, which submitted their applications at about the same time. Staff completed a preliminary review of the applications and the commission has also received input from local government officials about the proposal to fill channel 52, Chen Yaw-shyang said. “We will start reviewing the proposal to fill channel 52 with TTV News in the next few weeks, which should be completed by the end of this month,” he said. After March 31, the commission received proposals from other cable operators to have either CTS News and Info or TTV News air on channel 52, the commission said. Last month, the commission said that it received applications from seven other cable operators to have CTS News
The lack of an approved launch site in the nation has forced Taiwan Innovative Space Inc to turn to Australia to launch a research rocket, sources familiar with the matter have said. Some Taiwan Innovative Space employees departed for Australia in February to complete quarantine and preparatory procedures prior to trial launches this month, a person said on condition of anonymity. Australian space company Southern Launch would help Taiwan Innovative Space launch its sounding rocket at a site near Adelaide, South Australia, another person with knowledge of the matter said. “On 25 March, the Australian government announced the first ever license for a space launch facility, legally permitting rockets to fly into space from Australian territory,” Southern Launch said in a news release last month. “With domestic launch sites for commercial use, no more will Australia send money and give away jobs to the launch industries of New Zealand, the United States, Europe or India,” it said. Taiwan Innovative Space had not responded to the Taipei Times’ requests for comment as of press time last night. Founded in 2016, the company aims to become Taiwan’s first commercial rocket supplier for microsatellite launch services, but it has yet to prove its capabilities with flight data. On Feb. 13 last year, it attempted to launch its Hapith-I rocket at a site in Taitung County, but the mission was terminated due to inclement weather. The company wrote on Twitter at the time that “the process of ignition was completed.” Subsequent activity at the site was thwarted amid controversy over whether the site was being used illegally. Taiwan Innovative Space chairman Chen Yen-sen (陳彥升) had said that the firm might launch the Hapith-I in Alaska. However, the situation might be “a turning point” for the company, as overseas firms and investors have noticed that there is a rocket supplier in Taiwan, one of the sources
TAINTED IMAGE: The president apologized to DPP supporters for the party’s failure to prevent gang-affiliated people from joining the party and causing controversy
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Wednesday offered a public apology, following media reports of a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) member being affiliated with an organized crime group, and said that the party would tighten its review mechanism to screen out unqualified people. “In recent days, reports on gang activities and crime have been linked to the DPP’s internal management of party membership. These have led to criticism and have tarnished our party’s image,” said Tsai, who is also the DPP chairperson, at the party’s headquarters in Taipei. “The DPP failed to fully implement the party’s clause on prohibiting gang-affiliated people from becoming a party member, which has led to controversies and disappointed our supporters. I apologize for this,” she added. Tsai was referring to the case involving Chao Ying-kuang (趙映光), convener of the DPP Taipei chapter’s review committee, who resigned last week, following reports about his son Chao Chieh-yu (趙介佑), who is under investigation for racketeering, assault and kidnapping related to an organized crime group based in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投). The DPP in 2013 added a clause to its charter that says it will not allow people to apply for party membership if they are convicted of breaching the Organized Crime Prevention Act (組織犯罪防制條例), the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例), or the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例). “In the coming days, the DPP will institute a new system for background checks, and check court ruling records and other open information platforms. Regular checks will be conducted on new members, and party candidates running in elections, and will assess their performance when they are elected to public office. These will also remove those found to be affiliated with organized crime groups,” Tsai said. The party will make use of an artificial intelligence (AI) information system to prevent members of organized crime groups
Taipei Police Commissioner Chen Jia-chang (陳嘉昌) yesterday sought to reassure the public of the city police’s commitment to enhancing public security, announcing the results of recent crime sweeps and the arrest of major gang figures, as well as displaying a trove of confiscated weapons. The department has been embroiled in controversy after a group of young men last month rampaged through Songshan Precinct’s Zhonglun Police Station, and the police allegedly tried to cover up the incident. Chen told a news conference that his forces are resolved to clamp down on criminal groups and to curb street violence. Police have conducted raids on suspected loan sharks and people who use violent tactics to collect debt, with many of them suspected to be linked to local chapters of the organized crime groups the Bamboo Union and Heavenly Way Alliance, which are active in Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, Chen said. Acknowledging a slew of negative news that has eroded public confidence in the ability of law enforcement authorities to contain criminal activities, Chen said that police forces under his control would intensify their efforts to fight crime and conduct more crime sweeps to enhance public safety. In a public demonstration of unity, Chen was accompanied at the news conference by the heads of the city’s 14 main precincts and Taipei Criminal Investigation Division officers. A local boss, allegedly linked to the Bamboo Union, and eight gang members — including four teens — were arrested during a raid on Wednesday and taken in for questioning, Chen said. They are facing potential charges of assault, extortion, forcible confinement, and contravening the Organized Crime Prevention Act(組織犯罪防制條例), he added. Items seized in the raids were put on display, mainly weapons used by suspects in debt collecting and extortion, including knives, crowbars, baseball bats, hammers, chisels and metal
The chief suspect in an attack on a Taipei restaurant involving the release of 1,000 live cockroaches was detained and held incommunicado yesterday, while bail was set at NT$50,000 each for his three alleged accomplices. The Taipei District Court granted prosecutors’ request to detain the 26-year-old chief suspect, surnamed Wu (吳), but declined requests to detain his co-suspects, surnamed Tsao (曹), Hsu (許) and Tsai (蔡), who are in their early 20s. The four men, who were arrested on Tuesday during raids in Taipei and New Taipei City, along with a female minor who was later released, said they had been hired to “persuade” the owner of the restaurant to settle a debt with an unidentified creditor. After interrogating the men, the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday filed requests to have them detained on suspicion of using threats or violence at a public gathering, citing the risk that they might try to collude with each other or flee if they were granted bail. At their detention hearings late on Wednesday and early yesterday, the four suspects told the court that after seeing media reports about the attack, they contacted each other and decided to go into hiding in Taichung. However, because of media coverage of the incident, they were unable to find accommodation in Taichung and decided to return by car to Taipei, the court said, adding that three of the suspects said they had disposed of their phones to avoid being tracked. A major piece remains missing in the case, as prosecutors have yet to identify the person who directed the attack, the court said. At his detention hearing, Wu told the court that he did not know the name or address of the person who hired him, as they had only communicated via a messaging app and that he
In the face of a Chinese “final assault,” Taiwan is looking for tangible Australian support for Taiwanese participation in international affairs, Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said in an interview with the Sydney-based Australian Financial Review. Taiwan urges Australia to stand together with Taiwan to fight Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) expansionism in the democratic world, Wu said in the interview published yesterday. Wu was interviewed by journalist Michael Smith via videoconference on Tuesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. While the threat of a Chinese invasion is “not imminent,” a military confrontation with China is a genuine threat that Canberra understands, Wu said. “China is engaged in isolating Taiwan from the international arena, trying to engage in disinformation ... or hybrid warfare, and intensifying its military threat against Taiwan. [It] seems to be preparing for a final assault against Taiwan,” Wu said. “I don’t want to say that a war in between Taiwan and China is imminent,” but the Taiwanese government needs to be prepared for it, he said, adding that it is not only the Ministry of National Defense, but the whole government that is preparing for a possible military assault by China. Taiwanese and Australians both believe in freedom, democracy and human rights, Wu said, adding that he believed that Australians would consider speaking out for Taiwan a good thing. Taiwan does not want to see China’s definition of order, which is based on aggressive expansionism and authoritarianism, replicated in Taiwan, Wu said. He urged democratic countries that share the same values to form an alliance to resist Chinese authoritarianism. Wu called on Canberra to strengthen Taiwan-Australia economic ties and to restart talks for a free-trade agreement, adding that it was possible for Taiwan to apply and join the Trans-Pacific Partnership this year. Speaking on the issue of a potential Taiwan-Australia military collaboration,
The Executive Yuan yesterday unveiled a NT$9.1 billion (US$325.1 million) package of subsidies for parental leave, prenatal screenings and in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures in a bid to boost the nation’s birthrate. The parts of the proposal that do not require legislative consent are to be implemented from July 1, Executive Yuan spokesman and Minister Without Portfolio Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) told a news conference in Taipei after a regular Cabinet meeting. Amendments to the Employment Insurance Act (就業保險法) and other regulations would increase the allowance for parental leave from 60 percent of insured salary to 80 percent, he said. The increased allowance, which is to cost NT$4.2 billion, would draw funding from sources other than the Labor Insurance Fund to avoid crowding out other benefits, he said. Amendments to the Act of Gender Equality in Employment (性別工作平等法) would allow spouses to go on concurrent parental leaves with allowances for one to six months, and each household can avail of this leave twice, he said. Other, shorter-term leaves for childcare would also be permitted under proposed changes, he said. In addition, workers would be able to apply for unpaid parental leave regardless of the employment status of their spouse and without providing a reason for doing so, he said. Workers would have to give employers advance notice before taking parental leave to facilitate staffing arrangements at the workplace, he said. Eligibility for the government’s IVF subsidies would be broadened to include all married couples who cannot conceive if at least one of the spouses is Taiwanese and the woman is under 45 years of age, Ministry of Health and Welfare Deputy Minister Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said. Income restrictions were removed after the program reported that only 52 low and medium-income couples enrolled for IVF subsidies, which produced only seven births over the past six years, he said. Higher-income households are
TALK IT OUT: Women should clearly communicate their expectation that household chores be divided, instead of keeping negative feelings to themselves, an expert said
Better communication might help prevent conflict caused by an uneven distribution of household chores between men and women, the John Tung Foundation said yesterday. Last year, women took on most of the household responsibilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, the foundation said, citing an article titled “A multicountry perspective on gender differences in time use during COVID-19” in the March edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. The study, which surveyed more than 31,000 people in the US, Brazil, Canada, Denmark and Spain, found that women spent more time than men on housework and childcare, and that the more time women spent on household chores, the less happy they reported being, the foundation said. Societal expectations about gender roles — specifically the idea that women should perform household tasks — might be a major factor leading to an uneven distribution of household duties and negative effects that such patterns have on women’s happiness, said Yeh Ya-hsing (葉雅馨), director of the foundation’s Mental Health Center. Women should clearly communicate their expectation that chores be divided, Yeh said, adding that keeping negative feelings inside might make the situation worse. People can adjust the housework routine by taking breaks, taking a 15-minute walk, having a cup of tea or playing music while cleaning, she said. Not all of the housework needs to be done right away, she said. During the COVID-19 pandemic, women might ask why they are the only ones doing housework when both partners are working at home, Taiwan Counseling Psychologist Union member Hu Yen-wei (胡延薇) said. However, men who do housework might receive criticism for not doing tasks well or fast enough as a result of a lack of familiarity with the chores, Hu said. Chores can be made more interesting by having mothers imagine themselves as senior employees of
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai, center, and American Institute in Taiwan Kaohsiung branch head Mason Yu, second left, attend a news conference in Kaohsiung yesterday promoting bilingual education in the city.
Lanterns painted by schoolchildren from Tainan decorate a street in Minakami in Gunma Prefecture, Japan, in an undated photograph. Minakami is one of Tainan’s friendship cities.
QUARANTINE BLUNDER: The government should be responsible for a cluster infection at a hotel, as the cases have caused panic, DPP Legislator Chen Ming-wen said
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications should make it mandatory for pilots and flight attendants, as well as their family members, to be vaccinated in view of a cluster of COVID-19 cases at the Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport hotel, lawmakers said at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee yesterday. The cluster infection at the hotel had led to 28 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, including hotel workers, as well as China Airlines flight and cabin crew, and their family members. The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday tightened quarantine requirements for pilots and flight attendants, who must quarantine for five days and observe self-health management guidelines for another nine days. Prior to the announcement, flight and cabin crew were required to quarantine for three days and follow self-health management guidelines for another 11 days. The outbreak at the hotel was the focus of the committee, which had met to unfreeze part of the ministry’s budget. Many countries have required flight and cabin crew, border control workers, as well as their family members, to be vaccinated, because they are more likely to be exposed to people infected with COVID-19 than doctors at hospitals, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said. “Now we have a loophole in the disease prevention system. The government should make vaccination mandatory for airline employees and border control workers. Those working in transit hotels and quarantine hotels should also be vaccinated,” he said. The ministry should make the recommendation when meeting with CECC officials, particularly now that vaccines are available, Lin added. Wang said that he agreed with the proposal and would ask the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) to study it, but added that the center would have the final say on the matter. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Ming-wen (陳明文) said the government should take responsibility
An additional bonus is to be offered to primary healthcare facilities if they refer a patient to a designated COVID-19 hospital for testing and the result comes back positive, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. As several locally transmitted COVID-19 cases associated with staff at an airline and hotel have been reported, and as most of them experienced common symptoms, including a fever or respiratory problems, a reward mechanism has been launched to encourage more proactive testing, the CECC said. As of yesterday, 28 confirmed cases, including 14 local infections, linked to Novotel Taipei Taoyuan International Airport and China Airlines had been reported since the middle of last month. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said primary healthcare facilities are advised to refer any suspected COVID-19 patient to a designated COVID-19 hospital for testing. When people seek medical attention at a primary healthcare facility, the physician should consider their symptoms and their self-reported “TOCC” — travel history, occupation, contact history and clusters — and decide whether they should be referred to a designated hospital for COVID-19 testing, the CECC said. The healthcare facility that makes the referral is to be offered a bonus of NT$10,000 if the person tests positive for COVID-19 and the testing hospital is to receive a bonus of NT$5,000, Chen said. A bonus of NT$10,000 is already being offered to healthcare professional for reporting a confirmed COVID-19 case, according to the Communicable Disease Control Reward Regulations (傳染病防治獎勵辦法), the center said. Healthcare facilities are an important first line of defense against COVID-19, so the center hopes that healthcare professionals would remain vigilant and report any suspected cases, and the bonus is being offered to reward them for their hard work under high infection risk, Chen said. Regarding the infections at China Airlines and the Novotel Taipei Taoyuan
BRIBERY PROBE: The latest indictments brought the number of accused police officers to eight in a case that has also embroiled several nightclubs in Taipei
Taipei prosecutors yesterday indicted six police officers as well as five executives and staff from nightclubs in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) in a probe into alleged corruption, where the officers are accused of taking bribes to protect a sex trade business. The officers were charged with “taking bribes in breach of official duties” and related offenses, as well as contravening the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例), the prosecutors said. Superiors and officers at Taipei’s Zhongshan Police Precinct had allegedly been taking regular bribes from the area’s nightclubs and entertainment businesses from 2013 to 2018, when reports began to surface, prompting an investigation. The prosecutors have said that the bribes totaled NT$5.56 million (US$198,856 at the current exchange rate). They were allegedly collected from Tseng Hsiao-chi (曾小琪), the owner of Jialibao Group (嘉麗寶集團), and other proprietors. Tseng, along with her sister, allegedly ran the Fair Lady, Charming and Givenchy nightclubs under the Jalibao Group in Taipei’s late-night entertainment area around Linsen N Road and Zhongshan N Road, which falls under the precinct’s jurisdiction. Among the indicted officers is Tu Wei-lien (涂維廉), who was serving as deputy chief of Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) Police Station earlier this year when judicial investigators questioned him in connection with the case. The other police officers who were charged were posted at the precinct when the alleged crime took place: Wu Yi-ming (吳翊銘), Chang Ning (張寧), Chen Yen-nan (陳彥安), Hsu Chun-ming (許峻銘) and Chen Chin-nan (陳錦男). The remaining five indicted were nightclub operator Chiu Hsin-wei (邱信瑋), KTV parlor proprietor Hsiang Tong-yun (相同雲), nightclub accountant Wu Li-cheng (巫麗貞), and two other staff surnamed Chu (朱) and Chang (張). They have been accused of conducting the bribery scheme and acting as go-betweens, handing over the envelopes containing the bribe money to police. Prosecutors had in February indicted two Taipei police officers, Lee Kung-hua (李功華) and Chen Chun-an (陳俊安),
Passengers of Taipei MRT System’s Wenhu Line (Brown Line) can check how crowded the carriages are using the Taipei MRT app, as well as displays in the stations, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The company has made the service available on the busiest MRT Line after testing it for one year on the Bannan Line (Blue Line). It is also offering it at a time when the nation has seen a rise in local COVID-19 cases. A survey conducted by TRTC in 2016 identified the 10 most crowded sections of MRT lines during peak hours, nine of which were on the Brown Line. The most busy section on the list was between Zhongxiao Fuxing and Nanjing Fuxing stations. From 8am to 9am, an average of 4.07 people stood within 1m2 on trains from Zhongxiao Fuxing to Nanjing Fuxing, the survey showed. Between 6pm and 7pm, trains from Nanjing Fuxing to Zhongxiao Fuxing stations had an average of 3.96 people standing in 1m2, the survey showed. The company said that its self-developed alert system uses four levels to indicate how crowded carriages are: green means passengers can move inside carriages without any trouble; yellow means passengers can move easily inside carriages; orange means carriages are slightly crowded and passengers need to turn sideways to pass each other; and red means carriages are very crowded and it is difficult for passengers to move around. By next year, the service would also be available for passengers on Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line), Songshan-Xindian Line (Green Line) and the Zhonghe-Xinlu Line (Orange Line), TRTC said. In other news, people at Zhongxiao Fuxing Station can now wait for a train at “Metro Corner,” where they can watch updates of MRT services, weather reports and breaking news, the company said. The corner also has an automatic coffee machine and a vending machine,
‘KILLER BOMBS’: Witnesses said that a man who allegedly hit the elderly woman drove to a store, and purchased and drank beer in an apparent bid to beat charges
Radio talk show host Huang Wei-han’s (黃暐瀚) mother was killed in an alleged driving under the influence (DUI) incident, with a 30-year-old man in custody, Taichung police said yesterday after witnesses told officers that the suspect had driven to a store immediately after the crash, where he purchased and drank beer. Police said that the man, surnamed Fang (方), had submitted to a breath-alcohol test, which showed a reading of 0.4 milligrams per liter (mg/L), exceeding the 0.15mg/L maximum. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), was hit while crossing a street at an intersection in Taichung City at about 3am yesterday morning, police said. A black Mercedes sedan hit her and she was dragged for about 70m, a police report said. Chen, who was in her 70s, was rushed to a hospital, but died shortly afterward from trauma, internal injuries and loss of blood, the report said. Witnesses told police that the vehicle drove on after the crash to a convenience store, where police detained the driver, who was drinking beer, the report said. Fang, a hairdresser, told officers that he had not been drinking prior to the crash, it said. Witnesses said that Fang bought the beer to drink in a bid to evade a drunk driving charge by claiming that the alcohol test result was due to his drinking after the incident. One witness said that Fang bought four cans of beer and had finished three by the time police arrived. A plastic bottle containing an unknown liquid was found in a search of the vehicle, police said. A preliminary test indicated that the bottle might have contained illegal drugs, they said. Fang denied having taken drugs, investigators said. A urine sample was sent to a laboratory to be tested, which would take about three weeks, they said. Police said that preliminary investigations indicated that Fang had been with friends at a
ENGLISH-LANGUAGE PLATFORM: CNA said that the video platform would boost the nation’s international visibility through politics, business, history and culture
A proposal by the Central News Agency (CNA) to run a global video-streaming platform aimed at allowing the nation’s voice to be heard in the international community has been approved, the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. CNA had been tasked with executing the pilot phase of the project and was invited to submit a proposal for how the platform would be run in a limited tender, after a proposal by the Public Television Service failed to pass a review earlier this year, the ministry said in a statement. CNA’s proposal was passed in a 6-1 vote at a meeting of the review committee on Tuesday, the ministry said. The committee believes that the plan proposed by CNA meets the basic needs of the platform, including having a dedicated organization, and dedicated spaces for administrative and production purposes, as well as a dedicated fund, the ministry said. CNA also plans to integrate resources from public and private media firms in its production of different types of content, “in the spirit of a national team,” the ministry said. Despite the approval of CNA’s proposal, members of the review committee still had recommendations for the platform, the ministry said, adding that it would discuss those recommendations with CNA as soon as possible. The platform is to be run by an independent team that would be given professional autonomy, CNA said yesterday following the announcement of the decision. The video platform would be the first of its type in Taiwan to be conducted fully in English, CNA said, adding that it would strive to increase the nation’s international visibility. Through topics from politics, business and technology, to history, culture, food, travel and the environment, the platform would seek to present the freedom, openness and diversity of Taiwanese society, it said. It would also strive to increase international understanding and trust in the nation,
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) elections for its chairperson and delegates of its National Congress are to be held on July 24, the party announced yesterday. Those seeking to contest the elections must pick up registration forms on June 3 or 4 and submit them on June 7 or 8, the KMT said in a statement. Vote counting would begin the same day as the elections, it said, adding that a list of the elected candidates would be announced by July 27. The dates were announced after the KMT’s Central Standing Committee approved them at a meeting in Taipei. The committee also approved a requirement that candidates for KMT chairperson pay a registration fee of NT$200,000 (US$7,153) when they pick up their registration forms, and a NT$3 million processing fee and NT$10 million deposit when they register, the KMT said. The deposit would be credited to the winning candidate’s annual fundraising obligations as chairperson and returned to unsuccessful candidates, the party said. To encourage the participation of young people, the committee approved a rule allowing the chairperson to select up to 30 student delegates to join the 1,550-seat National Congress, the KMT said. “Party elections are not a head-to-head battle, much less a zero-sum game,” KMT Chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said at the beginning of the committee meeting, before it was closed to reporters. Rather, they are an exercise of democracy that decide how work is to be assigned in the party for the following few years, said Chiang, who is seeking re-election. “We hope that the KMT, united under a fair system, can win back the confidence of a majority of Taiwanese and gain more opportunities to serve the nation, regardless of who is leading it,” he said. Referendums to be held on Aug. 28 are “not only the party’s most important political task this year, but also a
All forms of violence and racial prejudice are to be condemned, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday following media reports that a Taiwanese woman was attacked for wearing a mask in New York City. The woman, identified as Theresa, 31, was attacked by a woman while walking with a friend in midtown Manhattan at about 8:45pm on Sunday, the Daily Mail US online reported on Tuesday, alongside a surveillance camera video clip that the New York Police Department released. The assailant demanded that Theresa remove her mask and struck her in the head with a hammer, leaving a gash on her forehead, the report said. Police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime, as the city has seen increasing assaults on Asians since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Daily Mail US reported. Theresa moved to New York in 2019 to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York’s WABC reported. After talking to her parents, Theresa said she would return to Taiwan and go back to New York when it is safe, the WABC report said. At a meeting of the Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee in Taipei yesterday, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Wang Ting-yu (王定宇) asked Ministry of Foreign Affairs personnel if they knew about the incident. The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) in New York has gathered information about the incident, although the student did not contact the office for help, Department of North American Affairs Deputy Director-General Regine Chen (陳慧蓁) said. “The ministry should express its stance on the matter,” Wang said, asking why it had said nothing. “No matter how good ties with Washington are, we hope that the US government is able to protect our students and expatriates there,” Wang said, adding that the ministry should issue a public statement on its stance. New York police did
A US official on Tuesday appeared to reject calls for Washington to make a clear statement of its willingness to defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack, saying there were “significant downsides” to such an approach. US National Security Council Coordinator for the Indo-Pacific Kurt Campbell told a discussion hosted by the Financial Times that it was appropriate to be concerned about the Taiwan situation. However, Campbell said he believed there was appreciation in the US and China that maintenance of some degree of “status quo” was in the best interests of Washington and Beijing. “I believe that there are some significant downsides to the kind of what is called strategic clarity that you lay out,” Campbell said when asked about calls from some US academics and others for Washington to give Taipei a more explicit security guarantee. Campbell said that any conflict between the US and China over Taiwan would not likely be contained to a small area. “I think it would broaden quickly and it would fundamentally trash the global economy in ways that I don’t think anyone can predict,” he said. There was some concern that China assessed it “got away scot-free” after its crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong and “could draw the wrong conclusions from that” when it came to its actions toward Taiwan, Campbell said. The best way to maintain peace and stability was to send a consolidated message to China that combined diplomacy and US defense innovation, Campbell said. He expected in the next couple of months to see “practical diplomatic engagement” with China on North Korea and other issues of the kind engaged in by US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley. The real short and medium-term risks were from “accidents and inadvertence,” given the proximity of US and Chinese
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