CRIME
Homeless man attacked
New Taipei City police said they were investigating after a homeless man was attacked by a knife-wielding assailant as he slept in a park in the city’s Shulin District (樹林) on Monday night. The 64-year-old man, surnamed Chang (張), was sleeping in a park pavilion on Shulin’s Shuiyuan Street when he was awoken at about 11pm by a man who slashed him multiple times with a knife before fleeing. After the attack, Chang went to a nearby sink to clean his wounds and then went back to sleep in the pavilion, where a passersby later reported him to the police due to the large quantities of blood at the scene. Chang was taken to the Tucheng branch of Chang Gung Memorial Hospital to be treated for slash wounds on his body and hands, and a severed left index finger, which was later found near the pavilion, police said. Chang was believed to have consumed alcohol before going to sleep, resulting in a diminished awareness of pain and did not know who attacked him. Investigators are reviewing surveillance camera footage to try and identify the suspect in the attack, police added.
CRIME
Mother, boyfriend detained
The Taitung District Court on Monday granted a request by prosecutors to detain a single mother and her live-in boyfriend suspected of attempted murder, after the woman’s 11-month-old daughter died from alleged child abuse. The toddler was unconscious when she was rushed to hospital on Oct. 8. Doctors found that she had multiple physical injuries, including to the head, a Taitung District Prosecutors’ Office statement said. After efforts to resuscitate her failed, she was pronounced dead on Saturday by the hospital, which immediately alerted the police and the Taitung Social Affairs Department of the matter, prosecutors said. The daughter was one of a pair of twins born to the 28-year-old mother, police said. The woman has had three failed marriages and a follow-up investigation also revealed that the twin son also had bruises on him, indicating alleged child abuse, police said. Besides the twins, the mother also has another child from a previous marriage and lives with her boyfriend, identified only by his surname Kao (高). During questioning, police said the couple’s answers were inconsistent with their statements and prosecutors who reviewed the case later filed a request with the court to have them detained over suspicion of attempted murder.
EDUCATION
Ten injured in collapse
Ten girls at Donghu Elementary School in Taipei on Monday sustained minor injuries after portable bleachers on which they were performing collapsed under their feet. The girls, who were part of a choir made up of 40 students, fell from heights ranging from 60cm to 120cm when the portable bleachers collapsed. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the 10 girls were sent to hospitals immediately for treatment and observation. The girls were sent to Taipei City Hospital Zhongxiao Branch and Tri-Service General Hospital. Fan I-more (方怡謨), deputy superintendent of Taipei City Hospital Zhongxiao Branch, said all six girls sent to that hospital were calm after sustaining minor injuries, such as sprains and abrasions, and they were discharged an hour after arriving. Tri-Service General Hospital said in a statement that the four girls it admitted had bruises and abrasions, and had been released. The bleachers that collapsed were purchased about four to five years ago, school principal Hsiu Chin-chu (修金莒) said. Hsiu said that the bleachers collapsed because the weight of the 40 students was unequally distributed.
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
Theaters and institutions in Taiwan have received 28 threatening e-mails, including bomb threats, since a documentary critical of China began being screened across the nation last month, the National Security Bureau said yesterday. The actions are part of China’s attempts to undermine Taiwan’s sovereignty, it said. State Organs (國有器官) documents allegations that Chinese government officials engage in organ harvesting and other illegal activities. From last month to Friday last week, 28 incidents have been reported of theaters or institutions receiving threats, including bomb and shooting threats, if they did not stop showing the documentary, the bureau said. Although the threats were not carried out,
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
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