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.
‘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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