Sat, Jun 03, 2023 page3

• Taiwan News Quick Take

  • Staff writer, with agencies
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  DIPLOMACY

  Envoy speaks about Taiwan

  Paris believes that forcing a confrontation with China over Taiwan is not in the best interests of the West, and the nation’s ambiguous status might be the best for all concerned, French Ambassador to the US Laurent Bili said on Thursday. “There is no middle ground between the West and China, and it’s better maybe to keep things under control and protect the status quo,” said Bili, a veteran diplomat whose past posts included serving as ambassador to Beijing. “There are certain issues, we have to think that maybe the status quo is the best that we can achieve,” Bili said. The US and France are getting closer on their policies toward China, he said, adding that the vocabulary the countries use to describe the challenge is now the same. “We are both speaking about derisking,” rather than decoupling, he said. “We also assume that China is both a partner sometimes, but also a competitor and, even more, a systemic rival. So I think in that way we are very close,” he said. Bili said that when French President Emmanuel Macron visited China in April, he “really called on [Chinese] President Xi Jinping [習近平] not to change the status quo by force and to refrain” from escalation over Taiwan.

  CONSTRUCTION

  Highwealth faces fine

  A Ministry of Labor project investigating the 30 construction projects being conducted by Highwealth Construction Co yesterday showed 52 violations and 15 counts of construction suspensions, generating a fine of NT$2.52 million (US$82,205). Highwealth was involved in an incident on May 10 in Taichung in which a crane boom fell onto MRT tracks shortly before a train ran into it, killing one person and injuring 10. After the incident, the ministry launched a special, month-long investigation on safety hazards and risks at construction sites using stationary cranes. The investigation should be completed within two weeks, Occupational Safety and Health Administration official Chu Wen-yung (朱文勇) said yesterday.

  CRIME

  Murder suspect caught

  A man in his 40s suspected of killing a Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) employee in Kaohsiung late on Thursday was injured yesterday morning when he jumped from the fourth floor of a building to avoid arrest, the Railway Police Bureau said. The suspect was caught after jumping out of a building in Renwu District (仁武) by railway police, who immediately rushed him to a nearby hospital, police said. A TRA employee surnamed Hung (洪) was found lying in blood without any vital signs on the floor of his office in Zuoying Station at 11:16pm on Thursday, the bureau’s Kaohsiung Precinct said. He was later declared dead at a hospital. The precinct launched a homicide investigation and identified the suspect after checking surveillance footage. Police did not disclose how the building was linked to the suspect, nor did they disclose any details on possible motives, saying only that an investigation was ongoing.

  ENTERTAINMENT

  Sam Smith to hold concert

  Grammy Award-winning English singer-songwriter Sam Smith is to hold a concert at Taipei Arena on Oct. 9 at 7:30pm, the official Web site of the singer and Taiwan ticketing promoter KHAM Inc announced on Thursday. The show is to be a stop in the singer’s world “Gloria the Tour,” which celebrates Smith’s fourth studio album, Gloria, which was released on Jan. 27.
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