CROSS-STRAIT
Chinese students coming
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) foundation yesterday said the central government had approved its application to invite a group of Chinese students to visit Taiwan. Foundation CEO Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said in a statement that the 40 students from seven universities would be led by China Tsinghua University Committee Secretary of the Communist Party Qiu Yong (邱勇). The visiting students would include double Olympic table tennis champion Ma Long (馬龍) of Beijing Sport University, and 2020 Tokyo Olympic shooting gold medalist Yang Qian (楊倩) of Tsinghua University. They are expected to arrive on Nov. 27 and depart on Dec. 5. Hsiao said the government approval is meaningful at a time of increasingly tense cross-strait relations. The Mainland Affairs Council on Thursday said that no major flaws were identified during the application review, and that it would ask the visiting group that no political statements be made and no actions detrimental to Taiwan’s status be taken.
TECHNOLOGY
More funding coming
The government has allocated NT$196.5 billion (US$6.1 billion) in next year’s budget to support the tech industry, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said on Thursday. Speaking at the EdTech Taiwan at the Taipei World Trade Center, Cho said the government plans to “make step-by-step efforts” to transform Taiwan into a “digital nation and ‘smart’ island.” The government has earmarked NT$14.6 billion for the semiconductor industry, NT$10.1 billion for net-zero technology, NT$9.4 billion for artificial intelligence (AI), NT$6 billion for aerospace and communications industries and NT$5.3 billion for digital humanities, Cho said. The remainder of the tech budget would be spent on areas including the arms industry, security-related technologies and next-generation communications, he added. “Through its policy approach, the Executive Yuan hopes to establish Taiwan’s sovereign AI and enter the era of AI applications,” the premier said. Next year’s proposed budget represents an increase of more than 25 percent from the NT$156.9 billion allocated for this year.
TRANSPORT
Speed limit increased
The Danhai Light Rail Transit in New Taipei City has significantly improved service efficiency between the two stations by increasing the speed limit sixfold. Starting yesterday, light rail trains on the elevated section between Xinshi 1st Road Station and Danjin Beixin (Beitouzi) Station can travel up to 60kph, operator New Taipei Metro said in a statement. The two stations are 470m apart, and the higher speed limit reduces travel time by about one minute, it said, adding that the change was made possible by covering rarely used railroad switches between the stations.
‘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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