CRIME
Northern schools reopen
School campuses in northern Taiwan reopened to the public during non-school hours yesterday, following the capture late on Wednesday of an escaped fugitive in New Taipei City. Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Yilan County all announced the reopenings on Wednesday evening, after saying earlier in the day that the campuses would remain closed to the public for an indefinite period. The escaped fugitive, identified as Chien Yu-hung (簡郁紘), fled from a secure facility at a Keelung hospital on Sunday, where he was receiving court-ordered treatment for mental illness, police said. The 39-year-old was found guilty in August last year of attempted murder after assaulting a pedestrian with a glass bottle seven months earlier. Following Chien’s diagnosis of schizophrenia, the Taipei District Court sentenced him to five years of medical guardianship to be followed by a three-year prison sentence. On Monday, Chien was found to have taken the Taipei MRT from Longshan Temple Station to Xinpu Station, at which point the authorities stepped up the search in New Taipei City. The New Taipei City Police Department on Wednesday said that it arrested Chien at an apartment building in Sinjhuang District (新莊).
DIPLOMACY
MOFA, Austria begin talks
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said that it has been engaging in talks with the Austrian government after it was recently informed that Taiwan-issued international driver’s permits (IDP) would no longer be accepted in the EU country. Before the issue is resolved, the government has temporarily suspended accepting Austria-issued IDPs in Taiwan, MOFA deputy spokesman Hsiao Kuang-wei (蕭光偉) said. The ministry confirmed a day earlier that it had been notified by the Austrian government of its decision to no longer accept Taiwan-issued IDPs. The Austrian Office in Taipei yesterday said that it had not been made aware of the Austrian government’s decision ahead of time, adding that it has since been relaying Taiwan’s reaction to Vienna, including the decision to suspend the acceptance of Austrian-issued IDPs. The office is still waiting for its government’s official response.
TRADE
Taiwan, UK sign MOU
Taiwan and the UK on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on organic agriculture cooperation, allowing the export of related products between both sides. Attending the signing ceremony at the British Office Taipei, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Minister Hu Jong-i (胡忠一) said the MOU between his ministry and the British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was groundbreaking for Taiwan’s agriculture sector. Under the MOU, the two sides are to recognize each other’s organic food and processed products, a prerequisite for Taiwan to allow such imports as regulated by the Organic Agriculture Promotion Act (有機農業促進法). Prior to Wednesday’s MOU, Taiwan had only signed similar treaties with Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, India and Paraguay, Hu said. The UK has 480,000 hectares of organic farmland and has been eager to export its products to Taiwan since Brexit, he said, adding that among the products from the UK are coffee, beverages and processed food products. The European market in general is interested in Taiwan’s organic tea, rice flour, cookies made from mixed grains, processed fruit juice, organic rice and gluten-free grains, he said.
‘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 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
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
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