SOCIETY
Man dies during race
A 25-year-old man participating in the Sun Moon Lake International Swimming Carnival yesterday fell ill soon after entering the water and was later pronounced dead, local authorities said. The man, surnamed Yuan (袁), removed his swim cap, signaling distress, about 100m into the annual 3,000m swimming competition across Taiwan’s largest lake, the Nantou County Government said. Emergency personnel quickly pulled Yuan onto a raft and transferred him into an ambulance, by which time he was already suffering out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, it said, adding that he was later pronounced dead at Puli Christian Hospital. Yuan had not drowned and his cause of death was still being investigated, it added. The swimmer’s death cast a shadow over the popular event, which this year attracted more than 24,000 competitors from 33 countries.
Photo: Hsieh Chieh-yu, Taipei Times
POLITICS
Hou You-yi takes leave
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, went on leave starting from Saturday and would be absent from his mayoral post until the end of the year to focus on his campaign, the New Taipei City Government said. A KMT legislative candidate, who asked not to be identified, welcomed the move, adding that Hou had been much less active on the campaign trail compared with his rivals. Democratic Progressive Party New Taipei City councilors criticized Hou for taking 113 days off, longer than mayor-candidates in previous elections. Lin Cheng-yi (林正壹), head of the New Taipei City Personnel Department, said that mayors can roll their unused annual leave days over to the next year until the end of their term in office, and they have seven days of paid leave each year. As Hou has unused leave days dating back to 2021, he can take 77 days off in the remainder of this year, Lin said.
POLITICS
Chiang leaves for Seoul
Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) yesterday morning left Taiwan to attend the World Cities Summit Mayors Forum in Seoul, where he would give a speech on creativity and innovation. “I have two missions for my visit — one being urban diplomacy and the other youth development,” Chiang said before departing for the three-day forum from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport). Chiang said he would meet with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon at the forum that started yesterday and ends tomorrow, to celebrate 55 years of sisterhood between the two capitals and to sign a memorandum of understanding on youth affairs cooperation. The forum, which highlights inclusivity and sustainability in urban development this year, brings together about 200 participants, including about 50 mayors.
TRAFFIC
Nantou cycling route opens
A new 600m cycle route that crosses part of Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) in Nantou County was opened on Saturday, with the aim of making biking around the lake safer and more enjoyable for visitors. The route connects Ita Thao Pier (伊達邵) with the cable car station on the east side of the Sun Moon Lake cycling network, which has been chosen as one of the world’s top 10 cycling paths by CNNGo, the Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area Headquarters said. The route, which cost NT$80 million (US$2.49 million), was built to make biking safer and give cyclists the option to ride closer to the water, officials said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
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