■ Tourism
Train service resumes
The Alishan train service, which has been suspended since the March 1 derailment that left 17 people dead and another 170 injured, will resume today, Council of Agriculture Vice Chairman Tai Chen-yao (戴振耀) announced yesterday. Following a series of examinations and repairs to the damaged section of the narrow-gauge railway, a test run was conducted yesterday. The train left Chiayi Station for Alishan yesterday morning without any trouble and returned from Alishan safely later in the day. A mechanic has been charged with neglecting to open an air valve connecting the braking system of the carriages, resulting in brake failure of the four-carriage train that lead to the accident. Two drivers and the chief attendant of the train also face the same charge.
■ Defense
Minister to warn of buildup
China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has conspic-uously intensified its combat preparedness in coastal regions over the past year, according to a report to be delivered by Minister of Defense Tang Yao-ming (湯曜明) to the Legislative Yuan today. During the past year, the report says, the PLA's frogmen troops deployed in coastal areas have been upgraded into amphibious forces capable of carrying out landing, loading and unloading missions while equipped with the gear needed to take and hold a beach. At the invitation of the Legislature's National Defense Committee, Tang will present the report analyzing the latest situation regarding the PLA and its threat to the country. According to the report, the PLA naval exercises have been focused on joint-forces combat operations, missile attacks and aggressive drills, aimed mainly at intensifying the navy's landing capabilities.
■ Transportation
Ministry undecided on flights
The Ministry of Transport-ation and Communications (MOTC) has not proposed that future charter flights across the Taiwan Strait be exempted from having to land en route at a third place, a senior ministry official said yesterday. "This proposal was broached by the airlines," Vice Minister Tsai Duei (蔡堆) said, adding that the MOTC has not yet decided whether to include the idea in the ministry's evaluation report on the indirect cross-strait charter flights that ran during the Lunar New Year holiday. Tsai was responding to a newspaper report that claimed the ministry has proposed allowing indirect cross-strait charter flights to make a detour that would avoid the mid-line of the Taiwan Strait without having to land in a third place.
■ Defense
Special task force set up
The Ministry of National Defense has set up a special task force to monitor the situations in Iraq and North Korea, according to a ministry report released yesterday. The report, to be presented to the Legislative Yuan's National Defense Committee today, says the ministry has also stepped up contacts with foreign military authorities and has expanded its intelligence sources in the face of a looming US-led war in Iraq. In addition, the Yunghsing task force is keeping in close touch with the nation's overseas offices and foreign military representatives stationed in Taipei to exchange early-warning intelligence. To cope with terrorists, the report says, the military has forged a combined services command mechanism to tackle any emergencies.
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The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
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