DIPLOMACY
EVA-LOT codeshare to begin
EVA Air has partnered with LOT Polish Airlines, the flag carrier of Poland, to launch codeshare services, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) announced on Friday, during a luncheon in Warsaw attended by representatives from Taiwan’s and Poland’s business communities. He did not provide a timetable for when the flights would be launched. Polish Investment and Trade Agency chairman Andrzej Dycha called Taiwan an indispensable partner for Poland, as his country pivots from the vehicle and battery industries to focus on artificial intelligence and semiconductors. Also on Friday, Taiwan donated more than 2,600 laptops and power-generation equipment to the Association of Ukrainian Cities during a ceremony attended by Lin and Uzhhorod Mayor Bohdan Andriiv. The donations would be distributed to 580 cities across Ukraine to support education, Lin said. Asustek Computer separately announced plans to donate laptops to Ukraine next year, but did not provide additional details.
SOCIETY
Three die in car crash
Three people were killed and two were injured in a collision involving a tractor trailer and a sport utility vehicle (SUV) in Yilan County early yesterday morning, police said. Police have ruled out driving under the influence as the cause of the incident, but have detained the 30-year-old tractor trailer driver, surnamed Huang (黃), for questioning on suspicion of negligent homicide. The deceased include the SUV driver, a 50-year-old man surnamed Tang (唐), and two backseat passengers: a 39-year-old man surnamed Lin (林) and a 24-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃). The backseat passengers were found without vital signs by Yilan County Fire Bureau personnel when they arrived at the scene after being alerted to the crash at 2:52am. The SUV driver appeared unconscious, but showed no vital signs while being transported to a hospital. The two injured people are a 34-year-old woman, surnamed Yin (銀), who was seated in the front passenger seat and sustained a fractured rib, and a 33-year-old man, surnamed Chiu (邱), whose left clavicle was broken and one of his lungs collapsed. The incident remains under investigation.
CRIME
Longer detention sought
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday filed a motion to extend the detention of Lee Wen-tsung (李文宗), a top aide of Taiwan People’s Party Chairman and former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), who remains detained in a corruption investigation involving a redevelopment project. The prosecutors’ office said Lee should be detained for another two months, as the investigation into bribery allegations continued. Extending the detention was necessary, because the felony charges against Lee carry a minimum prison sentence of five years, and he is considered a flight risk, the office said. Lee became the head of Ko’s office in May 2018 during Ko’s first four-year term. He has been detained since Sept. 29. The Taipei District Court would review the prosecutors’ motion on Tuesday. Prosecutors allege that Core Pacific Group (威京集團) chairman Sheen Ching-jing (沈慶京) paid bribes as part of his company’s efforts to lobby the city government to increase the floor area ratio of the redevelopment project, to raise the property’s financial value. Sheen and Taipei City Councilor Ying Hsiao-wei (應曉薇) were among the first people questioned and detained by investigators in late August. Ko and former Taipei deputy mayor Pong Cheng-sheng (彭振聲) were detained a few days later.
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
Global bodies should stop excluding Taiwan for political reasons, President William Lai (賴清德) told Pope Francis in a letter, adding that he agrees war has no winners. The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and Taipei has watched with concern efforts by Beijing and the Holy See to improve ties. In October, the Vatican and China extended an accord on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four years, pointing to a new level of trust between the two parties. Lai, writing to the pope in response to the pontiff’s message on Jan. 1’s
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
A Vietnamese migrant worker on Thursday won the NT$12 million (US$383,590) jackpot on a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought from a lottery shop in Changhua County’s Puyan Township (埔鹽), Taiwan Lottery Co said yesterday. The lottery winner, who is in her 30s and married, said she would continue to work in Taiwan and send her winnings to her family in Vietnam to improve their life. More Taiwanese and migrant workers have flocked to the lottery shop on Sec 2 of Jhangshuei Road (彰水路) to share in the luck. The shop owner, surnamed Chen (陳), said that his shop has been open for just
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