COMMERCE
Bookstore expanded
Eslite Spectrum Corp’s outlet in the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park in Taipei is to remain open around the clock, starting yesterday, nearly one month after the company closed its flagship Xinyi outlet. The Songyan outlet bookstore has been renovated and expanded to 1.5 times its original size, while its stock of books has been increased threefold, since the Xinyi all-hours store closed on Dec. 24 last year, Eslite Spectrum Corp senior director Chang Hsiao-ling (張曉玲) said. Since then, the number of customers at the Eslite Songyan store has tripled, and the increase is expected to continue with the launch of the outlet’s all-hoursoperations, she said. Usually, the Songyan store attracts about 2 million customers per year, Chang said, adding that she estimates the number would reach 6 million this year.
Last year, the number of customers at the Songyan outlet surged to 8 million, she said, attributing the sharp increase to the return of the Taiwan Lantern Festival to Taipei for the first time in 23 years and the opening of the Taipei Dome near the outlet.
With the start of all-hours operations at the Songyan outlet, the store’s annual revenue is likely to mirror the expansion of its book stock, rising this year by an estimated 30-40 percentage points, Chang said.
CRIME
Taichung pair found dead
Taichung police are investigating the cause of death of a divorced couple found inside a parked vehicle at a local fast food restaurant in Nantun District (南屯). When emergency responders first arrived at the scene after police received a report at 1:34pm on Friday, they found two people without vital signs inside the vehicle, police said. The woman, who was in the driver’s seat, had multiple lacerations to her face and neck, police said, adding that the male passenger seated beside her had similar wounds. The deceased were later identified as a 67-year-old man surnamed Chi (戚), who was found to have had a record of domestic violence, and a 55-year-old woman surnamed Chen (陳). The two were a formerly married couple who had signed a divorce agreement last week and appeared in a family court on Thursday, police said. Based on video footage taken from surveillance cameras in the area, Chi and Chen arrived at the fast food restaurant in their vehicle at around 8am on Friday and parked there for an extended period of time. An employee of the restaurant noticed the car had not left by 1pm and came to check on them, only to see the two individuals with stab wounds.
CRIME
Waste dumpers jailed
Twenty-one people in a crime group posing as landscapers have been convicted by the Changhua District Court of illegally dumping waste and given sentences of between four months and five years in jail. The three main suspects were sentenced to five years, two years and 30 months by the court. The other 18 members of the crime group, including drivers, accountants and landowners, received jail sentences ranging from four to six months, the ruling said. The verdict can be appealed. Three landscaping companies started by the defendants were also collectively fined NT$17 million (US$540,712) for violating the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物處理法). The ruling said the group rented large swaths of farmland and fish farms in Taichung, Changhua, Yunlin and Chiayi counties under the names of the landscaping companies to deal with waste they were paid to dispose of.
They rented large tractors to carry and dispose of the industrial waste, including plastic, plywood and insulation materials, while claiming it was compost. Overall, they dumped 24,086 metric tonnes of waste illegally on just over 6 hectares of farmland, affecting the normal use of the land, the ruling said. The Changhua District Prosecutors Office discovered the crime in 2022.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS