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.
‘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
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
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
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
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