POLITICS
TPP lawmaker investigated
The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said it is investigating claims that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Wu Chun-cheng (吳春城) used his position to help companies affiliated with him and his family gain government contracts. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus on Thursday said Wu had failed to avoid conflicts of interest in government tenders, and that he had profited from businesses affiliated with his wife, siblings, children and in-laws. Companies affiliated with Wu and his family have won NT$1.1 billion (US$33.58 million) in government contracts, they added. The Act Promoting Development for Strong Generation Policies and Industries (壯世代政策與產業發展促進法), promoted by Wu and passed by the legislature on Jan. 24, was part of Wu’s efforts to consolidate his business empire, the DPP said. Wu said he was confident in facing inspections, as long as they are fair and political powers do not intervene. He said he had not been involved in bidding for government contracts since he became a legislator in February last year. The only tender the Strong Generation Association — a group he chaired until Jan. 24 — participated in was three years ago in Chiayi City, Wu added.
Photo: CNA
DEFENSE
Six balloons detected
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday said it detected six Chinese balloons near the nation in the 24 hours to 6am yesterday, one of the highest number of balloons detected. Nine Chinese military aircraft, six warships and two official ships were also detected near Taiwan over the same period. The balloons were spotted at an altitude of 4.8768km to 6.096km, one of which directly flew over the nation, the ministry said. Chinese balloons have been regularly spotted over waters near Taiwan in the past few months, but yesterday’s figure is one of the highest recorded, an Agence France-Presse tally of military data showed. Taiwan last year detected a record of eight Chinese balloons less than a month after the Democratic Progressive Party’s William Lai (賴清德) won the presidential election. Taiwan says the Chinese balloons are a form of “gray zone” harassment — a tactic that can exhaust the nation’s armed forces, but falls short of an act of war.
SOCIETY
Chinese ID issue probed
The Ministry of the Interior is investigating companies across Taiwan that have allegedly helped Taiwanese illegally procure Chinese IDs. It said it has already questioned more than 30 people regarding the issue. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) on Thursday said that the ministry is investigating whether travel agencies and public relations companies in northern, central and southern Taiwan have assisted Taiwanese in illegally obtaining Chinese national IDs. Taiwan’s and China’s household registration and nationality systems are “mutually exclusive,” Liu said. Under the Nationality Act (國籍法), it is illegal for Taiwanese to simultaneously possess valid Chinese and Taiwanese documents. The ministry has yet to determine whether the alleged actions by Taiwan-based organizations were “purely commercial” activities or whether they were part of broader efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to promote the political unification of Taiwan and China. The issue garnered attention recently after YouTuber Pa Chiung (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that enable Taiwanese to apply for Chinese documents.
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “(we) appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
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
MUST REMAIN FREE: A Chinese takeover of Taiwan would lead to a global conflict, and if the nation blows up, the world’s factories would fall in a week, a minister said Taiwan is like Prague in 1938 facing Adolf Hitler; only if Taiwan remains free and democratic would the world be safe, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera. The ministry on Saturday said Corriere della Sera is one of Italy’s oldest and most read newspapers, frequently covers European economic and political issues, and that Wu agreed to an interview with the paper’s senior political analyst Massimo Franco in Taipei on Jan. 3. The interview was published on Jan. 26 with the title “Taiwan like Prague in 1938 with Hitler,” the ministry
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
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