TRADE
RCEP group inaugurated
A nonpartisan group of lawmakers yesterday inaugurated a parliamentary amity association for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁) to serve as chair. The RCEP is a 15-member free-trade agreement that does not include Taiwan. The group aims to deepen exchanges and help Taiwan participate in regional economic integration, Fu said at the legislature. As Taiwan’s technological strength is globally recognized, it could use that as a starting point to work together with RCEP members, especially in South Asia, Fu said. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Remus Chen (陳立國), Ministry of Economic Affairs Chief Secretary Yang Chih-ching (楊志清) and foreign representatives were also in attendance.
DIPLOMACY
MOFA confident in US ties
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it believes US support would remain unchanged no matter who wins the US presidential election in November, but it would stay on guard for Taiwan-China issues being “manipulated” as the campaign heats up. In a report to lawmakers, the ministry said that even though the US election’s outcome was not certain, there was cross-party support for the nation. Taiwan will continue to have balanced exchanges with the Republican and Democratic parties, but needs to be on guard for how Taiwan-China issues might feature in the election, the ministry added. “As the US election heats up, we should beware of cross-strait issues being manipulated as a political issue of defense and attack,” it said, without elaborating.
CRIME
Five indicted for trafficking
One Taiwanese and four Thai nationals allegedly involved in an international drug cartel were indicted for smuggling heroin into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The four ethnic Mon people from Thailand entered Taiwan in December last year on tourism visas, carrying 36.644kg of heroin valued at more than NT$100 million (US$3.13 million), the bureau said. The group, led by a Mon chief surnamed Sae, encouraged fellow tribe members to participate in the operation, offering each 800,000 baht (US$21,936), it said. All five suspects have been indicted under the Narcotics Hazard Prevention Act (毒品危害防制條例), it added.
SPORTS
Centenarian still got it
A 102-year-old Taiwanese man is defending his father-son title at the World Morning Cup Badminton Championships, an amateur event that began in Taipei on Wednesday, for the 40th consecutive year. Lin Yu-mao (林友茂), the Guinness world record holder for oldest male badminton player, on Tuesday said that he would also take part in the grandparent-grandchild category for the sixth consecutive year. Lin said he played badminton every morning without fail before age 100, after which he played every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. He said he was always good at sports, with experience in basketball and tai chi.
Lin said he finally stuck to badminton in his 50s because of the cheers he got when he hit a good smash. He said the Morning Cup “can enhance family relationships while happily exercising,” expressing hopes that it would continue. The championships broke the world record for the largest amateur badminton championships in 2016 with 4,318 people participating. This year, another world-record number of 4,753 people from 22 countries and regions have signed up, organizers said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
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