CRIME
Gold factories raided
Two factories allegedly dumped toxic waste from gold refining operations in mountainous areas, the New Taipei City Government said on Tuesday, adding that authorities seized about NT$70 million (US$2.2 million) of half-finished gold products. The New Taipei City Environmental Protection Department earlier this year said it received a tip-off alleging that a factory in a mountainous area of Linkou District (林口) had used nitric acid to extract gold from waste materials such as printed circuit boards and dental crowns. After the refining, the factory dumped the toxic nitric acid waste, the department said. The waste contained heavy metals such as copper, nickel and chromium, and plants withered where it was dumped, it said. The department, police and prosecutors formed a task force led by the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office, it said. The investigation found that a factory in Hsinchu County’s Sinpu Township (新埔) had also allegedly released toxic waste. The task force searched the Sinpu factory on June 4 and the New Taipei City site on Sept. 3. The June 4 raid showed that toxic waste was being released into a mountainous area, the department said. Four people were arrested, it said.
POLITICS
Students discuss democracy
A US non-governmental organization in Taipei on Tuesday hosted a forum for young people, at which dozens of students shared their observations of Taiwan’s democratic system. The Polarization and Reconciliation: Youth Forum on Democratic Resilience was organized by the International Republican Institute in cooperation with the Central News Agency (CNA). The participants, most of whom were undergraduate or postgraduate students, exchanged views on events that have divided Taiwanese society, such as the recent passage of amendments to government oversight laws and the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2019. The future of the amendments, pushed through by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party lawmakers at the end of May despite the disagreements of Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers, now hinge on a ruling by the Constitutional Court. Those events and the reaction to them reflected the polarization of Taiwan’s politics and society, which CNA editor-in-chief Chris Wang (王思捷) attributed in part to the effects of “politainment.” Politicians are increasingly using dramatic methods to communicate their agendas or undermine their rivals, which the media amplify through extensive coverage, Wang said. Tuesday’s event was part of the Washington-based International Republican Institute’s program to foster discussion on democracy among young people in Taiwan, said Loa Lok-sin (賴昱伸), a program manager at the institute’s Taiwan office.
CRIME
Taiwanese arrested in Seoul
A Taiwanese woman has been arrested in South Korea and faces extradition to China for allegedly kidnapping and murdering a Chinese and an American in the Philippines in June. The Criminal Investigation Bureau on Tuesday said that the suspect, identified by her surname, Chen (陳), is a 44-year-old Taiwanese who was born in Taipei. Chinese media firm Red Star News on Monday reported that Chen — initially referred to as Lee Na (李娜) — would be extradited to China after being arrested in Seoul. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would assist in handling matters related to the extradition case, the bureau said.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
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