TRAVEL
Bus catches fire
A bus carrying 32 people to a soccer game in Taoyuan caught fire on a freeway yesterday, the National Highway Police Bureau said, adding that no one was injured. The bus was at the 179.8km mark on National Freeway No. 3, traveling north from Tainan, when the driver pulled over at noon after noticing a problem, the bureau said. The 32 passengers also got off immediately, the bureau said, adding that they were students and teachers from Tainan Municipal Houjia Junior High School. Shortly after, a blaze broke out on the bus and the fire brigade was called, the bureau said, adding that the fire was put out by 12:10pm. While the incident caused a traffic jam for about 1km on the northbound freeway, there were no injuries, it said.
CRIME
Father to donate safety tools
The father of a 17-year-old boy who was one of the victims of a knife attack on a Taichung Mass Rapid Transit (TMRT) train earlier this week plans to donate safety equipment to the metro company. The man, identified by his name, Lu (呂), said on Friday that he is planning to raise NT$2 million (US$62,091) to purchase shields and batons to donate to the TMRT. His son sustained cuts to the chest, shoulder and arm after allegedly being attacked by a 20-year-old knife-wielding man who went on a rampage on a TMRT train at Taichung City Hall Station on Tuesday morning. Lu said his son’s condition has stabilized, but he would not be able to play basketball, which he loves, for the next three to six months. The father said he hopes the donation would help provide passengers with a means of self-defense if needed. On Friday, the TMRT said that all metro stations are equipped with shields, batons and pepper spray, while security guards carry whistles and batons.
CRIME
Suspected trafficker arrested
The Customs Administration confirmed that a woman entering Taiwan from Thailand was arrested on suspicion of wildlife trafficking, but declined to comment on media reports that she was caught with as many as 87 live animals taped to her body. Taipei Customs said the 64-year-old suspect arrived in Taiwan on a flight from Thailand with a friend on May 19. As the woman had a previous record of live animal smuggling, she was searched at customs, where live animals were found, the office said. Local media reports said the woman was arrested with 87 live animals, including protected species and four types of monkeys, taped to her body. The species confiscated by authorities included a Sunda slow loris, common marmoset, Senegal bushbaby, Asian barred owlet, green iguana, Nile monitor, Indian star tortoise, Mekong snail-eating turtle and an elongated tortoise, the reports said.
TRADE
US cherries rejected
Three shipments of red cherries imported from the US have been rejected at Taiwan’s border for containing the banned substance mefentrifluconazole, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said. The three batches of US red cherries, totaling 2.34 tonnes, were seized after being found to contain mefentrifluconazole — a conazole fungicide permitted for use in pears and apples, but not cherries — at a rate ranging from 0.05ppm to 0.17ppm, the FDA said. FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said it is the first case this year of substandard cherries from the US being identified. The FDA is to begin conducting shipment-by-shipment inspections on all cherries imported by the three companies.
‘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
RSS