SOCIETY
Woman fatally hit by train
A woman was yesterday hit by an arriving Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) train after she fell onto the tracks at Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung, and was later pronounced dead, the Railway Police Bureau’s Kaohsiung Precinct said. It received a report from the THSR station of a person falling onto the tracks shortly after the incident occurred at about 12:20pm. Emergency personnel quickly arrived at the scene, but said the woman showed no signs of life after efforts to resuscitate her failed, railway police said. The deceased’s identity and other details of the incident, including the circumstances that led to the woman ending up on the tracks, are being investigated, they said. Train services were not affected.
CRIME
Bribery suspects detained
Four more people have been detained over allegations of bribery relating to green energy projects, the Changhua District Prosecutors’ Office said on Thursday. The four were active-duty and retired military personnel, identified by their last names Chang (張), Chen (陳), Hsu (許) and Yeh (葉). They are suspected of having colluded with a mediator, who is believed to have ties with a criminal gang, in soliciting bribes from green energy businesspeople, the office said. Working with the Investigation Bureau and Maritime Affairs Field Division, authorities on Tuesday raided 34 locations in Taichung, New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and seized NT$1.3 million (US$40,114) in cash. Thirty-one people were questioned and some were granted bail ranging from NT$100,000 to NT$500,000.Prosecutors requested that Chang, Chen, Hsu and Yeh be detained and held incommunicado due to the risk that they could flee, collude or destroy evidence, which was approved by he Changhua District Court on Wednesday.
LEISURE
Free tours of new rail station
The Railway Bureau on Thursday said it is offering eight free guided tours of the rebuilt Taiwan Railway Corp (TRC) Kaohsiung Railway Station on Dec. 28 and 29 to celebrate its completion at the end of the year. The tours, each with a maximum of 20 participants, are to provide a first look at the rebuilt station’s air-conditioning, ventilation, and water and electricity pipeline systems, which were previously closed to the public, the bureau said. Bookings would begin at 10am on Dec. 14, details of which are to be posted on the bureau’s Facebook page. During the 40 to 50-minute tour, visitors would be able to enter the underground central control room, from where tunnel smoke control and escape routes are monitored, and the signal system operating room and exit passageways at the end of the platforms, the bureau said.
ECONOMICS
Taiwan-Austria talk held
Taiwan and Austria held an economic dialogue aimed at deepening their partnership in technology innovation, semiconductor development and similar fields, the International Trade Administration (ITA) said on Thursday. The Taiwan-Austria Economic Dialogue, which took place via video conference on Wednesday, focused on enhancing collaboration in digital governance, life sciences, and research and development, the ITA said. ITA head and talks cohost Cynthia Kiang (江文若) said that Austria’s promotion of telemedicine aligns with Taiwan’s leadership in semiconductor and information technology. Austrian Directorate of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy head Elisabeth Weissenboeck said the partnership benefits both countries, as their economies are characterized by innovation and openness.
‘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
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
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
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
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