DIPLOMACY
You Si-kun to travel to US
Legislative Speaker You Si-kun (游錫?) is to travel to the US tomorrow to speak at a summit on religious freedom and attend the US National Prayer Breakfast. A person with knowledge of the speaker’s itinerary said he would deliver a speech on Wednesday at the International Religious Freedom Summit in Washington. He is also to attend Thursday’s prayer breakfast — an annual gathering of political and religious leaders in Washington. Early on Friday he would fly back from New York, the source said on condition of anonymity. He was originally supposed to stay in the US for nine days, but the speaker’s schedule was condensed, as he is to attend the swearing in of new Cabinet members and the legislature’s review of a proposal to distribute last year’s surplus tax revenue to the public. The Legislative Yuan’s new session is to begin on Wednesday.
CRIME
Bullets found in man’s bag
An American transiting at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport en route to the Philippines was arrested on Thursday after customs officials found 50 undeclared .22 caliber bullets in his checked baggage. Police said an X-ray scanner detected the bullets. The suspect, 75, had been referred to the Taoyuan District Prosecutors’ Office, as he might have contravened the Controlling Guns, Ammunition and Knives Act (槍砲彈藥刀械管制條例), they said. The man, who was traveling from San Francisco to Cebu to visit his son, said he unintentionally left the bullets in his backpack after a hunting trip. The Aviation Police Bureau said prosecutors would investigate the case, but they were unlikely to press charges if the man’s story turns out to be true.
CULTURE
Latern fest to open in Taipei
The Taiwan Lantern Festival is to be held at four sites in Taipei from Sunday to Feb. 19. The Taipei City Government, which jointly organizes the event with the Tourism Bureau, said shuttle bus services would connect the four sites: Xinyi District (信義), Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and Taipei City Hall plaza. Bus tickets would cost NT$5 per journey, it said. The buses would connect Taipei’s MRT metropolitan railway system’s Red Line to the Blue and Green lines. Extra MRT services would be offered on the Red and Blue lines from Wednesday, as roadside parking would not be allowed near the venues, it said. The hourly rate at public parking lots near the venues would be increased to NT$60, the city government said.
CULTURE
Ting Chiang dies aged 86
Award winning TV and movie actor Ting Chiang (丁強) died on Friday at the age of 86. Ting had been recovering at home from a minor stroke, his agent said. However, he fell at home before the Lunar New Year holiday and was admitted to hospital, where his condition deteriorated quickly, the agent said, adding that Ting’s widow, veteran actress Li Hsuan (李璇), consented to a do-not-resuscitate order. As actors, Ting and Li last shared the screen in 2021 in the award-winning television drama Tears on Fire (火神的眼淚), in which they played husband and wife. Ting was nominated for the Golden Bell Award for Best Leading Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film in 2001, 2007 and 2010, winning the prize in 2001 for the miniseries Remember, Forget (記住忘了).
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
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
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