CRIME
Taiwanese returned: CIB
Three Taiwanese in Georgia, who were forced into a telecom fraud operation, were returned to Taiwan safely months ago, the Criminal Investigation Bureau said yesterday in response to media reports that a Taiwanese gang was allegedly operating a fraud ring in the European nation. The bureau said that in May it had received reports of three Taiwanese being held captive in Georgia and forced to engage in telecom fraud. Some of the 400 Taiwanese and Chinese in the hotel utilized by the ring were tricked into entering the country, while others went voluntarily, although they expected to be compensated, the bureau said. It liaised with its office in the Netherlands and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to extract the three in June and July, and has opened an investigation into the case, the bureau said. It also said that there appears to have been Taiwanese operating a criminal enterprise in Georgia, with its members entering the country on a third passport, although they reportedly moved to Southeast Asia last month after attracting attention from local law enforcement.
DIPLOMACY
German agreement inked
Taiwan and Germany yesterday signed an agreement to establish a commission to promote and facilitate exchanges at the civil society level, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The agreement was signed remotely by Representative to Germany Shieh Jhy-wey (謝志偉), who is based in Berlin, and German Deputy Representative to Taiwan Andreas Hofem in Taipei, the ministry said in a news release. Initiated by the German Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, the agreement is aimed at establishing a platform for enhanced bilateral dialogue at the level of civil society, the ministry said. The German office said in a news release that the commission would comprise 24 members — 12 from each side — and be headed by two chairs. German lawmaker Reinhard Butikofer has been named as one cochair and former National Chengchi University professor Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華) has been named as the other, releases by the two sides said. The commission is to be launched next year and is to meet once a year, alternating between Germany and Taiwan, the German office said. The agreement is the third to be signed by the two sides this year, the other two being pacts on technology collaboration and judicial cooperation on criminal matters, the ministry said.
HEALTH
CDC nears vaccine goal
More than 6 million doses of publicly funded influenza vaccines have been administered this year, including to nearly half of people aged 65 or above, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. Since its rollout on Oct. 2, 6.018 million doses of the flu vaccine had been administered, CDC Deputy Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) told reporters. In terms of age, 2.08 million people aged 65 or above, or 49.8 percent of that age group, have received a shot, just shy of the government’s goal of 55 percent, Lo said. In the 50-to-64 age group, 15.4 percent, or 813,000 people, have been vaccinated, as have 70,000 people aged 19 to 49 with chronic illnesses or other factors that put them at risk of severe complications from infection, he said. As of yesterday, 561,000 doses remained unadministered, he said, adding that the CDC would consider purchasing additional doses based on demand. The flu season typically begins in November and winds down in March.
‘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 wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
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
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
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