POLITICS
KMT campaign sues
The campaign office of the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜), and his running mate, Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC) chairman Jaw Shaw-kong (趙少康), yesterday filed criminal complaints accusing former KMT legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅), political pundit Mao Chia-ching (毛嘉慶) and the production team of the “Bit King Real Taiwan’s True Politics” YouTube channel of libel and spreading election rumors with an intent to affect electoral outcomes. During a talk show that aired online on Thursday last week, Chiu and Mao falsely claimed that Hou and Jaw respectively made deals with organized crime groups and profited from BCC’s sale, Hou’s campaign spokesman, Lu Chia-kai (呂家愷), said as he filed the complaint at the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. The video harmed Hou’s and Chou’s reputations, and had a measurable impact on the campaign, Lu said. Chiu and Mao filed a counter-complaint against the KMT presidential ticket, saying that they had made false accusations. “The KMT is attacking me with an army of lawyers, but I have truth on my side,” Chiu said.
MILITARY
Rockets no threat: military
Rockets used by China to send satellites into space on two consecutive days posed no threat to Taiwan, the Ministry of National Defense said on Monday and yesterday. The ministry detected satellite launches from China’s Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at noon on Monday and yesterday morning, it said. Both rockets traveled toward the Indian Ocean, posing no danger to Taiwan, it said in separate brief statements following the launches. The armed forces were alerted and monitored the rockets’ paths, it added.
MILITARY
Drone site inaugurated
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended a groundbreaking ceremony for an aerospace and drone facility in Chiayi County, with the site expected to boost the nation’s asymmetric combat power. Drones would be mass-produced at the facility, boosting military drone development and making Chiayi County one of the most strategically important drone production sites in Asia, Tsai said. Complex and volatile international situations make drone development essential, she said, adding that the Ministry of National Defense is seeking to boost domestic production. The first stage of construction covers 5 hectares and is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology said, adding that the subsequent stages would be based on national defense missions that arise.
GOVERNMENT
Data office unveiled
Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) yesterday attended a ceremony to unveil the Personal Information Protection Committee Preparatory Office. The office is being established in accordance with the Constitutional Court’s verdict in August that government protection of personal data was insufficient and that it should establish an independent oversight agency, Chen said. The committee would be the nation’s first step toward implementing the “national human rights movement” policy and is in line with the urgent need to protect personal data in the digital age, he said. The office should hasten efforts to prepare the committee to grant constitutionally granted rights for the privacy of personal information, and establish a foundation for the country’s digital platform for commerce and trade, he said.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the
BIG collection: The herbarium holds more than 560,000 specimens, from the Japanese colonial period to the present, including the Wulai azalea, which is now extinct in the wild The largest collection of plant specimens in Taiwan, the Taipei Botanical Garden’s herbarium, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition that opened on Friday. The herbarium provides critical historical documents for botanists and is the first of its kind in Taiwan, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute director Tseng Yen-hsueh (曾彥學) said. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, which opened during 1924. At the time, it stored 30,000 plant specimens from almost 6,000 species, including Taiwanese plant samples collected by Tomitaro Makino, the “father of Japanese botany,” Tseng said. The herbarium collection has grown in the century since its