POLITICS
TPP attacked for comments
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Chang Chi-kai (張啟楷) has encountered criticism in recent days for lobbying to raise the lunch allowance for legislators while cutting other government budgets, saying their NT$100 stipend is “not even enough to buy a McDonald’s meal.” People online have started calling Chang “French Fry Bro” (薯條哥) over his proposal to increase funds for lawmakers’ lunches. One Taipei resident, surnamed Liu (劉), told reporters that lawmakers are “cutting so many budgetary items, impacting government and society, yet they want to increase their own meal stipend. But it is not needed, as they are all very well-off and already enjoy lots of perks and subsidies.” Earlier this week when Chang chaired a meeting examining the budget, he said they had recently ordered fast food for lunch when budget review meetings were extended into the afternoon. “But each McDonald’s meal was missing some items,” Chang said. “So we need to boost funds for meals, and should have no problem adjusting this,” he said, suggesting to add NT$10 or NT$20 to the budget. Chang later said that legislators usually order lunch boxes, but at that time, Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) wanted to treat everyone to something different, so he ordered from McDonald’s.
CRIME
Rail trespasser sentenced
The Changhua District Court has sentenced a man to three years and two months in prison for trespassing on a railway crossing while riding his motorcycle. The court found the man, surnamed Lai (賴), guilty of an offense against traffic safety, according to the verdict issued on Jan. 14. The ruling said that in June last year, the man raised the gate to cross the railway crossing as warning bells were sounding and warning lights were flashing in an attempt to catch a train at Ershui Station (二水) in Changhua County. The ruling said that the driver of the approaching train saw the trespasser when he was about 60m away and managed to ring the warning bell and hit the brakes in time. Lai was seen speeding off on his motorcycle to the other side, ramming into and breaking the lowered gate. The court said that if the train had hit Lai, it could have derailed and/or caught fire, posing a significant danger. The ruling can be appealed.
ENTERTAINMENT
Local films at Berlin festival
Three Taiwanese movies have been shortlisted for this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, which takes place from Feb. 13 to Feb. 23. The drama Eel (河鰻) by Chu Chun-teng (朱駿騰) has been nominated for the Perspectives section, the drama Silent Sparks (愛作歹) by Chu Ping (朱平) for the Panorama section, and the satire The Trio Hall (三廳電影) by Su Hui-yu (蘇匯宇) for the Forum section. Tricia Tuttle, director of the festival, said on Tuesday at a press event that 14 feature-length films had made the Perspectives section, which is dedicated to debut films. Notably, five of the productions were directed by women and two of them by nonbinary directors, she said. The new category brings together filmmakers with audacious ideas from around the world and is eclectic in styles and themes, Tuttle said. This year’s edition of Berlinale is set to be the first under the leadership of Tuttle, an American, who became the festival’s director in April last year. Previously she was with the British Film Institute (BFI) overseeing the BFI London Film Festival.
‘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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