Mon, Sep 27, 2021
RESPONDING TO XI: The DPP’s ‘anti-China’ policy has changed the ‘status quo’ across the Taiwan Strait and caused alarm on both sides, the KMT chairman-elect said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman-elect Eric Chu (朱立倫) yesterday said he hopes the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will seek common ground and respect differences on the basis of the “1992 consensus” and opposition to Taiwanese independence. Chu made the remarks in response to a congratulatory letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) written in his capacity as general secretary of the CCP Central Committee on the occasion of Chu’s election as KMT chairman on Saturday. In the recent past, the KMT and the CCP had good interactions, bolstered cooperation and promoted the peaceful development of cross-strait relations based on the common political basis of adhering to the “1992 consensus” and opposing Taiwanese independence, Xi said in his letter, according to a copy released by the KMT. “At present, the situation in the Taiwan Strait is complex and grim,” Xi wrote, calling for unity among “all Zhonghua (中華) sons and daughters” and expressing the hope that the two parties will work together to “seek peace for the Taiwan Strait, seek reunification for the country and seek rejuvenation for the nation.” For more than 30 years, there had been good progress in exchanges and cooperation at all levels of cross-strait relations due to the continued efforts of the KMT and the CCP, Chu said in his response, a copy provided by the KMT showed. However, in the past few years, under the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) administration, a “desinicization” and “anti-China” policy has been adopted, changing the “status quo” across the Strait, and resulting in a precarious situation and trepidation among people on both sides, he wrote. Chu said he hopes that the KMT and the CCP will, on the basis of the “1992 consensus” and opposition to Taiwanese independence, seek common ground and respect differences, increase mutual trust, and bolster exchanges and cooperation so
Pro-Beijing pandering by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman-elect ignores the facts and would allow the party to become a target for China’s “united front” tactics, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The KMT on Saturday elected former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) as chairman on promises of reopening all channels of communication with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday sent a letter congratulating Chu and calling for cooperation between the parties amid a “complex and grim” situation in the Taiwan Strait. Chu in response expressed his wish that the parties could seek common ground on the basis of the so-called “1992 consensus” and opposition to Taiwanese independence. The MAC later in the day condemned Chu for his remarks that “cater to the CCP while ignoring the facts.” By placing the blame for cross-strait tensions at the feet of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government, the KMT is allowing itself to become the primary target for Beijing’s “united front” efforts to divide Taiwanese, the council said. The government is committed to preserving peace across the Taiwan Strait, but CCP authorities repeatedly threaten and suppress the nation’s military and diplomatic efforts, destroying the “status quo” while refusing to communicate, it said. These are the main sources of cross-strait tensions and the biggest challenges Taiwan faces, it said, adding that Beijing’s actions have been condemned by Taiwanese and the international community alike. Chu’s black-and-white statements accusing the DPP of obstructing China portend that the KMT’s cross-strait policy is to drift farther from public opinion, it said. The council also urged the KMT to understand how Beijing’s definition of the “1992 consensus” denies Taiwanese sovereignty and interactions on this basis have repeatedly failed to gain public support. The DPP also condemned Chu’s response to Xi’s letter, saying that no other political party in a democracy
This year’s government-funded seasonal influenza vaccine program would be carried out in two phases, with 11 groups of people eligible in the first phase, which begins on Friday, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday. The vaccines would first be offered to people at higher risk of infection or serious flu complications, as well as those who are in need of more protection, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center. Eligible recipients include healthcare workers and disease prevention personnel; people aged 65 or older; daycare or long-term care facility residents and workers; children between six months old and elementary school age; pregnant women; and parents of children younger than six months. Eligibility also covers people with underlying health conditions and chronic disease; people with a body mass index of 30 or above; those with rare disease or catastrophic illness; preschool or infant care facility workers; livestock and poultry industry workers and animal disease prevention personnel; and elementary school, junior-high school and high-school (or grade one to three of five-year junior college) students. The second phase would begin on Nov. 15 and eligibility would be expanded to people aged 50 to 64 without high-risk chronic disease, Chen said. A total of 6.32 million doses of government-funded flu vaccines would be offered this flu season while supplies last, he added. Chen urged eligible recipients to book a vaccination appointment as early as possible starting from Friday. People should wait for at least seven days between receiving a flu shot and a COVID-19 vaccine, and inform healthcare workers of any recent vaccination when receiving a flu shot, he said. The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has said that spacing the flu shot and a COVID-19 vaccination would help healthcare workers better diagnose the source of any post-vaccination adverse events,
Germans yesterday voted in one of the most unpredictable elections in the country’s recent history, with German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservatives and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) in a tight race for her crown as she prepares to leave the political stage. The election ends Merkel’s 16 years in power and places Germany — a byword for stability — in a new period of uncertainty. Opinion polls showed the race for the chancellery headed for a “photo finish,” with the conservative alliance of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) at about 23 percent, just behind the SPD at 25 percent — well within the margin of error. “We will certainly see some surprises on Sunday,” said Nico Siegel, head of the Infratest Dimap polling company. Despite the SPD’s lead in the polls, a victory for the CDU-CSU alliance “can’t be ruled out,” he said. “The race for first place is wide open.” About 40 percent of Germany’s 60.4 million eligible voters have said they are undecided, while the same proportion had cast their ballots by post — including Merkel herself. German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was among the early voters yesterday, declaring that “to vote is to live democracy” as he cast his ballot in Berlin. The two men jostling for the top job — German Minister of Finance and Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz, 63, of the SPD, and Armin Laschet, 60, of the CDU-CSU — voted in their respective hometowns of Potsdam and Aachen. Laschet said that “every vote counts” in an election that would determine the “direction of Germany in the next years,” while Scholz said he hoped the good weather was “a good sign” for his party. At a polling station in Aachen, voter Ursula Becker, 62, said: “This year it’s quite exciting who it will be, and
‘FIGHT FOR VICTORY’: Eric Chu said his election victory would be the beginning of the DPP’s worries and that he would open all channels of communication with China Former New Taipei City mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) was yesterday elected Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman in a four-way race that included outgoing chairman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣). Chu, 60, garnered 85,164 votes, or 45 percent of the 187,998 KMT members who cast ballots. Sun Yat-sen School president Chang Ya-chung (張亞中) trailed behind with 60,632 votes, followed by Chiang with 35,090 votes and former Changhua County commissioner Cho Po-yuan (卓伯源) with 5,133 votes. Voter turnout was 50.71 percent. This will be Chu’s second time heading the party. He was elected KMT chairman in an unopposed by-election in January 2015 and resigned in January 2016 following the party’s losses in the presidential and legislative elections. In his victory speech yesterday, Chu said his election would be the start of the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) worries. “The KMT will unite in an unprecedented manner, and we will fight for the pan-blue camp’s decisive victory,” he said. “We will fight for people’s rights and resist the DPP’s overbearing and aggressive behavior.” Asked by reporters what his approach would be to relations with China, Chu said the Taiwan-China relationship is “very important,” and that he would strive to open all channels of communication with China. Chu also reiterated his intention to open a KMT representative office in the US. Chu added he would travel across Taiwan to gather feedback on ways to improve the party from his supporters and detractors alike. He would seek to restore confidence in the KMT and encourage involvement of young people in the party’s improvement, he said. Following the election results yesterday evening, Chiang at the KMT headquarters in Taipei led party officials in resigning en masse and tasked KMT caucus secretary-general Lee Yen-hsiu (李彥秀) with handling the handover of the party leadership to Chu. Chiang said that despite his personal loss in the election, he felt the results to
Two Canadians detained in China on spying charges were released from prison and flown out of the country on Friday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, just after Huawei Technologies Co (華為) chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟) reached a deal with the US Department of Justice over fraud charges and flew to China. The frenetic chain of events involving the global powers brought an abrupt end to legal and geopolitical wrangling that for the past three years has roiled relations between Washington, Beijing and Ottawa. The three-way deal enabled China and Canada to each bring home their own detained citizens, while the US wrapped up a criminal case against a prominent tech executive that for months had been mired in an extradition fight. The first activity came on Friday afternoon when Meng, 49, the daughter of the company’s founder, reached an agreement with US federal prosecutors that called for fraud charges against her to be dismissed next year and allowed for her to return to China immediately. As part of the deal, known as a deferred prosecution agreement, she accepted responsibility for misrepresenting the company’s business dealings with Iran. About an hour after Meng’s plane left Canada for China, Trudeau revealed that Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were also on their way home. The men were arrested in China in December 2018, shortly after Canada arrested Meng on a US extradition request. Many countries labeled China’s action “hostage diplomacy.” “These two men have been through an unbelievably difficult ordeal. For the past 1,000 days, they have shown strength, perseverance and grace, and we are all inspired by that,” Trudeau said. News of Meng’s pending return was a top item on the Chinese Internet and on state broadcaster Chinese Central Television’s midday news report, with no mention made of the release of Kovrig and
BOOSTING DEFENSE: With the production of most new equipment ready to start, the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology expects a revenue surge next year The Executive Yuan on Friday revealed the schedule for Taiwan’s indigenous missile and warship production. The schedule is part of a draft bill on the nation’s sea and air combat power enhancement program that the Cabinet submitted to the legislature. The NT$240 billion (US$8.65 billion) program, to be implemented from next year to 2026, would also include the acquisition of long-range cruise missiles, upgraded air defense systems and modern warships. The indigenous Wan Chien air-launched cruise missile with a claimed range of 200km would be produced from next year to 2024, while the Hsiung Sheng cruise missile would be produced from next year to 2025, the bill said. The Chien Hsiang loitering munition, which has entered mass production, would be produced under the program from next year to 2025, it said. A long-range variant of the Hsiung Feng III supersonic anti-ship and land-attack missile, which has a claimed effective range of 400km, would be produced from 2023 to 2026, it said. The Hsiung Feng I and Hsiung Feng II missiles’ coastal defense variants and their dedicated road-based mobile launch vehicles would be produced from next year to 2026, the bill said. The Hsiung Feng III missile would be produced from 2023 to 2026, it said. As for naval equipment, two phases of production of Tuo Jiang-class corvettes are planned, it said. Phase 1 would start next year and phase 2 would start in 2023, while both phases would conclude in 2026, it said. The Coast Guard Administration’s Anping-class patrol vessels would be retrofitted with missiles, and command and control facilities between 2023 and 2026, it said. Procurements of the surface-to-air variant of the Tien Chien II missile and the Tien Kung III missile defense system would be integrated in the program, with production from next year to 2026. it said. The state-owned Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology, which designed most of
Long-term polling data show that a majority of Taiwanese feel that the Taiwan-US relationship is more important than the Taiwan-China relationship, National Chengchi University professor Tsai Chia-hung (蔡佳泓) told a panel on national security and the state of Taiwan-China relations held yesterday by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The data, compiled by the university’s Election Study Center, showed that although most Taiwanese feel that China has more influence in the international community, developing closer ties with the US is more important to Taiwan’s future, Tsai said, adding that there was no large difference of opinion across age groups. Study participants largely felt that ongoing US-China trade tensions highlight the importance of Taiwan-US economic ties, he said. Tsai said that the number of members of the public aged 20 to 35 who self-identify as “Taiwanese,” as opposed to “Chinese,” has been growing since 2008, with 80 percent identifying as Taiwanese in a study late last year. “The number of those identifying as ‘Taiwanese’ and supporting independence has been growing over the past decade, regardless of what party is in power,” he said. “At least half of those aged 20 to 35 supported independence as of last year.” In the most recent study, 39 percent of respondents aged 20 to 35 said China’s global influence was “very strong,” while only 8.5 percent said the US’ influence was “very strong.” In the 36 to 50 age group, 33.5 percent said China’s influence was “strong” and 9.4 percent said the US’ influence was “strong,” while in the 51 to 65 age group, 31.4 percent said China’s influence was “very strong” and 16.6 percent said the US’ influence was “very strong,” the study showed. Among those aged 66 or older, the numbers were more even, with 22.8 percent saying that China’s influence was “very strong” and 19.2 percent saying that the US’
An exhibition on Tibet opened at a bookstore in central Taipei yesterday, highlighting human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party in the region. The exhibition at To-uat Books in Zhongzheng District (中正) features charcoal sketches by Tung Ching-jung (董靜蓉), depicting Tibetan leaders and human rights advocates, including the Dalai Lama; Tenzin Delek Rinpoche, a Tibetan monk who died in a Chinese jail; and Hollywood actor Richard Gere, who has for years been outspoken about his support for Tibet. Tung, who is a member of the Students for a Free Tibet-Taiwan, said that China systematically oppresses Tibetans and denies them access to education about their own language and culture. She said that a Tibetan friend once told her: “I don’t want to be forced to become Chinese, I just want to be Tibetan.” Tibetan government-in-exile representative to Taiwan Kelsang Gyaltsen Bawa expressed his gratitude to Taiwanese for paying attention to the Tibet issue. China’s oppression of Tibetans is based on destroying their culture and closing local schools in which students can learn about their own background, he said. Tibetans have been imprisoned for speaking their language or beaten to death for having a photograph of the Dalai Lama on their mobile phone, he said, calling the measures “genocide.” The exhibition, hosted by the Human Rights Network for Tibet and Taiwan, and Students for a Free Tibet-Taiwan, is to run until Oct. 9.
Taiwan could play a pivotal role in coast guard activities and cybersecurity in the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwanese academics said on Saturday. They made the remarks following reports that Taiwan might participate in activities of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a security grouping between Australia, India, Japan and the US also known as the “Quad.” Leaders of the four nations issued a joint statement after a meeting in Washington on Friday saying that they were committed to “promoting the free, open, rules-based order, rooted in international law and undaunted by coercion.” “We stand for the rule of law, freedom of navigation and overflight, peaceful resolution of disputes, democratic values and territorial integrity of states,” they said. The formation of AUKUS — a trilateral security alliance between Australia, the UK and the US — as well as an earlier joint statement by Quad members showed that the US seeks to expand the grouping, said Kuo Yu-jen (郭育仁), a political science professor at National Sun Yat-sen University. Although the latest joint statement did not specifically mention Taiwan, the issue of Taiwan’s possible role in an expanded “Quad Plus” grouping, and the nation’s cooperation with the coast guards of the US and Japan were discussed at the meeting in Washington, he said. “AUKUS was formed specifically as a military alliance, so its likely that the US intends the Quad to be something different — more of a mechanism for the four member countries to cooperate on a variety of issues,” he said. Aside from cooperation on coast guard affairs, Taiwan could work with the Quad on the detection of submarines, Internet security and logistics affairs, he said. Lai I-chung (賴怡忠), a consultant at the Taiwan Thinktank, said that the nation is likely to play a key role in international cooperation on technology and medicine involving the Quad members, as
BASKETBALL IN MIND: A path to citizenship without applicants having to spend five years in Taiwan would help the national team, the KMT’s Wan Mei-ling said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wan Mei-ling (萬美玲) yesterday said she is planning to propose amendments to the nation’s residence regulations that would make it easier for foreign professionals to become citizens. Article 3 of the Nationality Act (國籍法) stipulates that foreign nationals with residence certificates can apply for naturalization if they have stayed in Taiwan for more than 183 days a year for five consecutive years. Wan said that the requirement is a main reason that few foreign professionals apply for citizenship, as many do not fulfill the requirements. She said that the rule also creates problems for Taiwanese entities, for example the national basketball team having limited access to the nation’s pool of foreign players who might wish to become citizens. The basketball teams of many Asian countries increasingly rely on naturalized players and encourage foreign players to become citizens, Wan said. The amendments would give a path to citizenship to foreigners who do not fulfill the current requirements, but are recommended for naturalization by a government agency, she said. A Ministry of Interior panel would decide on their applications for naturalization, she added. The amendment would improve the retention of foreign talent and help the national basketball team become more competitive, she said. The national team has been looking for naturalized talent as it is expecting the retirement of 38-year-old Taoyuan Pilots power forward Quincy Davis, who renounced his US citizenship in 2013 to become a Republic of China citizen. Davis has since represented Taiwan at international competitions.
CULTIVATING TALENT: The institutes are to focus on five key areas that were decided on by a committee made up of government agencies, experts and industry representatives The Ministry of Education has approved requests by four public universities to set up research institutes in five key areas: semiconductors, artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing, the circular economy and finance, the ministry said yesterday. The schools are National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University, National Cheng Kung University and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, which was created in February when National Yang Ming University and National Chiao Tung University merged. A first group of students are to enroll in the research institutes during the 2021-2022 academic year at the earliest, the Department of Higher Education said in a statement. To bolster the faculty at the institutes, the ministry has also agreed to allow each university to hire up to 15 additional full-time professors, it said. The Act for National Key Fields Industry-University Cooperation and Skilled Personnel Training (國家重點領域產學合作及人才培育創新條例) was enacted on May 28, the department said. The ministry then invited government agencies — the National Development Council, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Financial Supervisory Commission, the Mainland Affairs Council, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics and the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration — as well as experts and industry representatives to form a committee to decide the scope of the nation’s key fields, it said. The five key areas listed are attracting attention worldwide, the ministry said, adding that there is an urgent need to ensure cooperation between industries and universities, as well as to cultivate talent, or opportunities would be missed. The establishment of the research institutes would enable a systemic mechanism for dialogue between industries and universities to be created and increase the willingness of industries to invest their resources, the ministry said. To maintain the research institutes’ operations, the Executive Yuan’s National Development Fund would also offer subsidies depending on the status of contributions by
ON ALERT: The CECC still needs to see how travel during the Mid-Autumn Festival affected the virus situation, but it plans to reveal eased rules today The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday reported eight imported COVID-19 cases, but no local cases or deaths. Six of the imported cases are students from Myanmar, while the other two are from Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates, said Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center. There have been no new local COVID-19 cases for four of the past six days, which is a good sign, he said, adding that community spread of the virus has been steadily brought under control. While the center still needs to observe the effect that people traveling during the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend would have on the domestic COVID-19 situation, plans to further ease restrictions would be announced today, Chen said. However, wearing a mask is still very important, even if vaccination coverage increases, he added. To date, Taiwan has confirmed 16,189 COVID-19 cases, of which 14,415 were domestic infections reported from May 15, when the country first recorded more than 100 cases in a single day. Additional reporting by CNA
Following a major earthquake in Hualien County yesterday morning, the Central Weather Bureau warned of possible aftershocks in the region over the next two days. The magnitude 5.7 quake occurred at 6:21am, with the epicenter in Sioulin Township (秀林) — 37.1km north-northeast of Hualien County Hall — at a depth of 45km. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges its actual effect, was highest in Hualien, Yilan and Hsinchu counties, where it measured a level 4 on the seven-tier intensity scale, the bureau said. Seismological Center Director Chen Kuo-chang (陳國昌) said initial observations suggest the quake took place within a subduction zone. Since monitoring began in 1973, subduction zone earthquakes have been rare in Hualien and the quake yesterday was the strongest ever registered in the region, he said. While subduction zone earthquake aftershocks seldom occur, the possibility cannot be ruled out over the next two days, Chen said. No damage or injuries were reported from the quake. In related news, the earthquake delayed local trains. The Taiwan Railways Administration said that 4,800 passengers were affected as a number of trains temporarily stopped running due to safety concerns.
Changhua County police are investigating child abuse allegations against a woman surnamed Chiu (邱) who operates a private childcare service from her home. A local court on Saturday night granted a request by prosecutors to detain Chiu, 25, and her boyfriend, surnamed Huang (黃), 30. Prosecutors said the pair are to face charges of assault resulting in injury and contravening provisions of the Protection of Children and Youths Welfare and Rights Act (兒童及少年福利與權益保障法). The alleged physical abuse came to public attention on Friday, after a mother reported that she had found bruises and severe burns on her four-year-old son, as well as lacerations on his penis. The mother said she and her husband both have day jobs, adding that after being told about Chiu, they agreed to pay her NT$20,000 per month to look after their son. However, she later noticed bruises and burns on her child, so she took him to a hospital to be examined, the mother said. She said she then found out that Chiu was not licensed for childcare work and had used a false name to promote her service. Police found two other cases in which parents alleged in June and last month that their children were physically abused while under Chiu’s care. On Friday, police were given arrest warrants for Chiu and Huang, and found them having a meal at a restaurant in Changhua’s Yuanlin City (員林). Police quoted Chiu as saying that she had done nothing wrong. Asked about injuries found on the four-year-old boy, she was quoted as saying that he had fallen down while playing, and that the burns on his feet were because soup had accidentally spilled on them while he was eating. Asked about the wounds to his genital region, Chiu denied being the perpetrator, saying he had injured himself riding a bicycle. A mother surnamed Lai (賴) on Saturday
MONETARY ASSISTANCE: Billions of New Taiwan dollars in overseas funds continue to flow back to Taiwan’s shores, along with new jobs, with the help of incentive programs The Ministry of Finance has received applications to repatriate NT$355.9 billion (US$12.83 billion) in overseas funds since a repatriation law took effect on Aug. 15, 2019, the ministry said at a weekly Cabinet meeting on Thursday. As of Sept. 14, the ministry had approved about NT$301.7 billion in repatriated overseas funds, including NT$180 billion from for-profit enterprises and NT$121.7 billion from individuals, the ministry said in a statement. The legislature passed the Act on the Use of and Taxation on Inward Remittances of Overseas Funds (境外資金匯回管理運用及課稅條例) in July 2019, as part of government incentives to help investors rebalance their management of global funds and encourage them to return capital to Taiwan. It provides a tax rate of 8 percent in the first year and 10 percent in the second for repatriated funds, with further reductions to a preferential rate of 4 percent in the first year and 5 percent in the second if the funds are returned and invested on time. Since the law was enacted, about NT$113.7 billion of repatriated funds were invested in local industries, mainly in the information and communications industry, and generated NT$25.5 billion in tax revenue, the ministry said. “As the approval of repatriation applications takes time, and the repatriation and investment undergo certain procedures, the repatriation and investment amounts will likely continue to increase,” the ministry said. The ministry said the US-China trade dispute and the COVID-19 pandemic have had repercussions on the global economy in the past few years. “However, with full cooperation between the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Financial Supervisory Commission and the central bank, the results of implementing the overseas funds repatriation law are in line with expectations and inject energy into the domestic economy,” it said. Apart from the repatriation law, the return of Taiwanese manufacturers and policy efforts to facilitate domestic investment
The central bank would continue communicating with the US to avoid being labeled a currency manipulator next month when the US Department of the Treasury renews its list, the bank said on Thursday. Taiwan would likely remain on the watch list without being named a currency manipulator, even though it has met the three criteria: having a trade surplus of more than US$20 billion, a current account surplus exceeding 2 percent of GDP and intervention operations surpassing 2 percent of GDP, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) said. The US said in an April report that Taiwan, Vietnam and Switzerland met the criteria, but there was not sufficient evidence to link the results to outright manipulation. The US understood that the COVID-19 pandemic and major central banks’ money-printing programs helped account for the imbalances, Yang said. Taiwan would continue to argue that the criteria are not suitable measures as long as the pandemic lingers and loose monetary policies prevail, which are driving up demand for electronics and the New Taiwan dollar, he said. Strong exports inflate Taiwan’s current account and propel hot money to the local exchange market, Yang said. The central bank has no choice but to step in and slow the effect of capital influxes on the local currency, Yang said, adding that a strong NT dollar would erode corporate profitability. “Taiwan’s interest sits on top of our concern list,” he said. One way to address trade imbalances is for Taiwan to stop selling chips, but the US and the world need them, Yang added.
READY TO SPEND: Close to 40 percent of the public is getting ready to make a pricey purchase, despite low expectations of salary increases, a new survey showed Public confidence in Taiwan’s economy improved this month amid a stabilizing COVID-19 situation and relaxed disease prevention measures, a Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) survey showed on Wednesday. The survey of 22,037 people conducted from Sept. 1 to 7 showed that nearly half of respondents expected the local economy to improve over the next six months, compared with 48 percent in a poll conducted early last month. The survey was conducted online on clients of Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽) and Cathay United Bank Co (國泰世華銀行), which are fully owned by Cathay Financial. Respondents on average expected Taiwan’s economy to grow 4.23 percent this year, higher than the 4.17 percent expected last month, Cathay Financial said in a statement. The improved economic sentiment also prompted more people to invest in the stock market, it added. The poll showed that 25.6 percent of respondents expected the job market to improve, up from 23.5 percent last month. However, 33.6 percent of respondents expected the job market to worsen, down from 39.3 percent last month, it showed. The survey showed that 38.7 percent of respondents planned to make big-ticket purchases over the next six months, while 23.1 percent planned to buy durable goods, compared with 38 percent and 22.3 percent respectively last month. Despite the improving outlook, a majority of 62.7 percent expected that their salaries would remain unchanged over the next six months, while 20.8 percent expected a raise and 16.5 percent expected less income, it showed. Nearly 80 percent said that prices of consumer goods appear to have increased, and 75 percent said they expect the trend to continue over the next six months, the survey showed. On average, respondents expected a 2.05 percent consumer goods price increase this year, compared with an average increase of 2.03 percent expected last month, the survey showed. The government’s latest consumer price index forecast
China’s central bank on Friday declared all transactions involving cryptocurrencies illegal, saying that virtual currencies would disrupt the economic and financial order, facilitate criminal activities and jeopardize the safety of people’s assets. Over the past few months, several Chinese provinces had already ordered cryptominers to shut down their operations, citing their strain on the energy supply. China’s crackdown on cryptocurrency trading and mining comes as digital currencies, including bitcoin, ethereum and dogecoin, have become mainstream investment targets. Few would dispute that, from the perspective of central banks and governments, cryptocurrencies pose a threat to financial stability, and they all want control over the digital currencies to manage risk, volatility and uncertainty. US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler in an interview with the Washington Post on Tuesday said he feared a lack of oversight of trading cryptocurrencies would hurt US investors, while raising doubt over the long-term viability for various private forms of money in the market. Gensler compared cryptocurrencies to the “wildcat banking” era of the mid-19th century, when private banknotes dominated the US economy, generating problems and costs, and necessitating greater regulatory oversight and consumer protections. The unregulated financial system created by trading cryptocurrencies poses a clear danger for the Chinese government and US authorities. That might not be the case for El Salvador, which on Sept. 7 became the first nation to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, creating the largest testing ground for cryptocurrencies. The move has drawn doubt, curiosity and even excitement inside and outside the Central American country, as people want to know whether a digital currency can transition from a niche asset to an official monetary unit. In Taiwan, cryptocurrencies are viewed as commodities. The central bank and the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) in 2013 issued a joint statement saying that digital currencies, such as bitcoin, are
I first met Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 1999, when I was Acting Director of AIT, as Darryl Johnson had just left and Ray Burghardt had not yet arrived. She was a young aide for then-President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝). President Lee just had enunciated a new theory, which came to be known as the “state-to-state” principle, in an interview with a German newspaper. Beijing had predictably gone berserk and was trying to get Washington to come down heavily on President Lee. In the midst of all this, Tsai and I met to discuss the situation. I took a liking to this studious and quiet woman, who had an impressive educational background, including study in London and at Cornell. I later invited her to my home on Song Jiang Road. Not long after our first one-on-one session, Tsai told me she was taking a break and flying to London for a visit. I asked her what she planned to do in that fantastic world city; take in the sights, perhaps visit some museums. To my surprise, Madame Tsai told me she was most looking forward to crawling through the city’s bookstores! That image of the hardcore scholar has stuck with me all these years. When Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) unexpectedly gained the Presidency in 2000 after a tightly contested three-way race, Ms. Tsai became his Director of Mainland Affairs. It was only after this that she formally joined the DPP. I returned to Taipei as AIT Director in 2007, at which point she had become Vice Premier under Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), toward the latter stages of Chen’s second term. With the return to power of the KMT under Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in early 2008, Ms. Tsai became DPP Chairwoman, later losing the 2012 presidential race to incumbent Ma in a fairly close contest. Then
Taiwan does not have any formal defense ties with Australia, but as China’s military expands its power and presence in the South Pacific and threatens the Indo-Pacific region, there might soon be a need for bilateral strategic security cooperation between the two nations as an additional tool to uphold regional security and stability. In an article titled “War-gaming tomorrow: ‘It’s possible this will end in an all-out invasion,’” published in the Weekend Australian newspaper on Sept. 11, Australian Senator Jim Molan, a retired major general in the Australian Army, outlined a potential scenario for Australia in the post-Afghanistan era. “China has one strategic aim: to be dominant, first in the region and then perhaps in the world,” Molan wrote, later adding: “The US is the target. The CCP [Chinese Communist Party] objective is to reduce US power, and Taiwan should be seen as the means.” “Taiwan may be used by China to entice US naval forces to enter an area of great vulnerability. China’s aim then would be to cause the US such heavy casualties that it has to withdraw from the western Pacific,” he wrote. In other words, as Molan wrote, China’s strategy is to use a conflict in the Taiwan Strait to expel the US military from the Western Pacific. In the past few years, the Australian government has sought to assimilate itself into the ASEAN alliance structure over regional security issues, and placed increased importance on the situation in the Taiwan Strait. Australia is on the front line of China’s military rise and sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea, and Canberra has therefore sought a long-term bilateral alliance with Washington. A 2016 Australian Department of Defence white paper identified the strategic confrontation between the US and China as an important factor in the security of the Asia-Pacific region, adding that the US
OUTCLASSED: Despite lacking height, weight and reach advantages, Oleksandr Usyk proved too elusive for Anthony Joshua and landed much cleaner punches Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk on Saturday dethroned world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua in his own backyard, with a stunning display that led to a unanimous decision in front of a sellout crowd at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The 34-year-old former undisputed cruiserweight world champion put on a master class to silence the vast majority of the 67,000 fans who packed into the huge arena. Usyk — giving away height, weight and reach to the champion — proved too elusive for Joshua throughout an enthralling contest and landed the much cleaner shots, finishing with a flurry in round 12 as he went in search of a knockout. Joshua stayed upright, but the decision was a formality as Usyk seized the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO belts with the three judges scoring it 117-112, 116-112, 115-113. Former Olympic champion Usyk, contesting only his third professional heavyweight fight, follows in the footsteps of compatriots Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko, who dominated the division for a decade from 2004 to 2015. He is only the third cruiserweight world champion to step up a weight and become the heavyweight world champion since Evander Holyfield and David Haye. For Joshua, a second career defeat was a crushing blow and scuppered hopes of a unification showdown with compatriot Tyson Fury, the WBC holder, who takes on Deontay Wilder of the US in Las Vegas on Saturday next week. Even the most diehard Joshua fans had to concede that their man had been schooled by a skillful craftsman who rarely looked ruffled even when sustaining a cut above his eye late on. Joshua gave the crowd little to cheer and ran out of ideas against his southpaw opponent, who was ahead throughout. “This means a lot for me. The fight went the way I expected it to go. There were moments when Anthony pushed me hard, but it was
Shohei Ohtani tripled in his first two at-bats and the Los Angeles Angels routed Seattle 14-1 on Saturday, ending the Mariners’ six-game winning streak and damaging their playoff chances. Jhonathan Diaz pitched seven strong innings in relief and the Angels scored eight runs in the third inning, as Seattle dropped three games out in the American League wild-card chase with seven games to play. In a race for two spots, the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees are tied atop the wild-card standings, with the Toronto Blue Jays two games back. Ohtani scored two runs and had three RBIs to raise his season total to 98. He tripled twice off starter Tyler Anderson, then was walked in his next two plate appearances. The two-way star has walked 13 times in the past four games, tying a major league record. The others who drew 13 free passes in a four-game span were Babe Ruth (1930), Bryce Harper (2016) and Yasmani Grandal (2021). Peter Bourjos was the last Angels player to hit consecutive triples on April 26, 2011, against Oakland. With 99 pitches, Diaz (1-0) allowed three hits and one earned run to get his first major league win. “He came in and defined that game,” Angels manager Joe Maddon said. “Give Diaz a lot of credit. He saved the bullpen the last several games. He pitched well. The last time he pitched, got off to a bad start. [Saturday] he settled in and kept making pitches all night long.” Jared Walsh was four for five, with four RBIs for the Angels, and Brandon Marsh scored four times. Luis Rengifo hit a solo homer in the second inning. Anderson (7-10) — acquired by the Mariners from the Pittsburgh Pirates in July — had a rough start. He allowed nine earned runs on nine hits in two-plus innings. “It seemed like
Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday did not leave the court, but required some time to replace a worn-out pair of shoes during a 6-3, 6-4 win over Nick Kyrgios in Boston to give Team Europe a 5-1 lead over Team World in the Laver Cup. Tsitsipas came under scrutiny at the US Open for the length of his mid-match bathroom breaks. Critics consider the breaks unfair gamesmanship, but Tsitsipas was in control of the match this time and had a clear reason for the stoppage. Early in the second set, Tsitsipas interrupted his own service game at 15-15 and took several minutes installing new laces before ultimately deciding to put on fresh shoes, given that the original pair did not stand up well to the indoor surface. “It’s not the best advert for the shoe, I guess, but look at it, it’s absolutely battle weary from the amount they slip and slide around,” the Eurosport commentator said. “I wonder if Kyrgios is tempted to say something like: ‘Is this going to take about eight minutes? What’s going on here?’” When play resumed, Tsitsipas used his serve to overwhelm Kyrgios and control the rallies, before ultimately sealing the win with a solid forehand passing shot.
Two Argentine couples on Saturday won the world’s biggest tango competition, held in Buenos Aires at the end of a festival that paid tribute to late legendary soccer player and long-time tango fan Diego Maradona. Held through a combination of in-person and virtual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s world tango dance championship involved about 800 dancers from 25 countries. The finals were staged in front of the illuminated Buenos Aires Obelisk at the heart of the Argentine capital. Couple Emmanuel Casel and Yanina Muzyka won the “stage tango” category, while Agustin Agnez and Barbara Ferreyra were crowned winners of the “salon” category. Throughout the competition, songs and dances paid homage to Argentine sports great Diego Maradona, who died of a heart attack on Nov. 25 last year at the age of 60. Widely regarded as one of the best soccer players of all time, the captain of Argentina’s 1986 FIFA World Cup-winning team had recorded tango songs as an amateur singer and was known to show off his dancing skills at parties. The competition coincided with the reopening of Buenos Aires’ famed milongas, or tango salons, after the COVID-19 pandemic had forced them to close down for 18 months.
PAST TACTICS: In what some see as a return to hardline strategies, the new Afghan rulers hanged the body of an alleged kidnapper from a crane as warning to criminals The Taliban hanged a dead body from a crane parked in a city square in Afghanistan on Saturday in a gruesome display that signaled the hardline movement’s return to some of its brutal tactics of the past. Taliban officials initially brought four bodies to the central square in the western city of Herat, then moved three of them to other parts of the city for public display, said Wazir Ahmad Seddiqi, who runs a pharmacy on the edge of the square. Taliban officials announced that the four were caught taking part in a kidnapping earlier on Saturday and were killed by police, Seddiqi said. Ziaulhaq Jalali, a district police chief in Herat who was appointed by the Taliban, said later that Taliban members rescued a father and son who had been abducted by four kidnappers after an exchange of gunfire. Jalali said that a Taliban fighter and a civilian were wounded by the kidnappers, and that the kidnappers were killed in crossfire. A video showed crowds gathering around the crane and peering up at the body as some men chanted. “The aim of this action is to alert all criminals that they are not safe,” a Taliban commander who did not identify himself said in an interview conducted in the square. Since the Taliban seized control of the country on Aug. 15, Afghans and the world have been watching to see whether they will recreate their harsh rule of the late 1990s, which included public stonings and limb amputations of alleged criminals, some of which took place in front of large crowds at a stadium. After one of the Taliban’s founders said that the hardline movement would once again carry out executions and amputations of hands, the US Department of State said that such acts “would constitute clear gross abuses of human rights.” State Department spokesman
Russia, China, Pakistan and the US are working together to ensure that Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers keep their promises, especially to form a genuinely representative government and prevent extremism from spreading, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said Saturday. Lavrov said the four countries are in ongoing contact. He said that representatives from Russia, China and Pakistan recently traveled to Qatar and then to Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, to engage with both the Taliban and representatives of “secular authorities” — former Afghan president Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, who headed the ousted government’s negotiating council with the Taliban. Lavrov said the interim government announced by the Taliban does not reflect “the whole gamut of Afghan society — ethno-religious and political forces — so we are engaging in contacts. They are ongoing.” The Taliban has promised an inclusive government, a more moderate form of Islamic rule than when it last ruled the country from 1996 to 2001, including respecting women’s rights, providing stability after 20 years of war, fighting terrorism and extremism, and stopping militants from launching attacks. However, recent moves suggest that it might be returning to more repressive policies, particularly toward women and girls. “What’s most important ... is to ensure that the promises that they have proclaimed publicly to be kept,” Lavrov said. At a wide-ranging news conference and in his speech afterward at the UN General Assembly, Lavrov criticized the US for its hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan. He said the US and NATO pullout “was carried out out without any consideration of the consequences ... that there are many weapons left in Afghanistan.” It remains critical, he said, that such weapons are not used for “destructive purposes.”
Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, reached out to South Korea for a second time in recent days, saying Pyongyang would consider taking part in another inter-Korean summit and declaring an end to the war if Seoul adopts a less hostile policy. “I felt that the atmosphere of the South Korean public desiring to recover the inter-Korean relations from a deadlock and achieve peaceful stability as soon as possible is irresistibly strong,” Kim Yo-jong said in a statement issued by the official Korean Central News Agency. “We, too, have the same desire.” Kim’s statement follows one she issued on Friday saying that South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s proposal to officially declare an end to the Korean War is an “interesting and good idea” in that it suggests a cessation of hostilities between the two sides. The countries are still technically at war after the 1950-1953 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. North Korea cut off communications with South Korea and symbolically exploded an inter-Korean liaison office on its side of the border last year as Seoul continued its support for the US-led sanctions campaign that’s hobbled the North’s economy. Earlier this month, Pyongyang launched two cruise missiles with capabilities of reaching South Korea and Japan, the US Pentagon said. “Only by maintaining fairness and respect for each other can the two Koreas resolve other relational problems, like declaring the end of war at the proper time, re-establishing North and South liaison office, and arranging inter-Korean summits between the two leaders through constructive discussions,” Kim Yo-jong said, stressing that she was expressing her “personal opinion.” Moon on Tuesday reiterated his call for formally ending the Korean War in an address to the UN General Assembly. He has less than a year left in office and is attempting
The end of World War II left Japanese militarists with a raft of urgent problems. The Allies were about to exercise their hypocritical victor’s justice on the Japanese, which meant that many in the government and military faced jail or execution. Moreover, the Japanese establishment had lost the war badly, and for the most part run it incompetently, and had to offer a neat explanation, or at least somehow cover up its crimes, incompetence and strategic ineptitude. As historian Bruce Lee chronicled in Marching Orders, it was Minister Okamoto Suemasa, the head of the Japanese delegation in Sweden, who came up with the approach that to this day influences virtually all discussion of the war, especially on the western left, and in Japan. After noting that the American public was shocked by the horrors of the atomic bomb, Okamoto proposed playing up the bombings to deprecate US conduct of the war and divert attention from Japan’s crimes. On Aug. 29, 1945, he messaged Tokyo with this idea, noting: “Since it is difficult to justify the heavy damage inflicted and the massacre of hundreds of thousands of innocent people, there is the opportunity — by making use of the Diet, the radio, the various other means — to play on enemy weakness by skillfully emphasizing the extreme inhumanity of the bomb.” JAPAN’S A-BOMB PROPAGANDA The Americans had been reading Japanese military and diplomatic codes, and would continue to do so until early November of 1945. US analysts summarized the burgeoning Japanese campaign for General Marshall, observing that Japanese leaders intended to play up the atomic bombings to explain Japan’s surrender, because the military did not believe it had been defeated in combat, and to counter negative publicity about Japanese atrocities, especially the treatment of Allied POWs. In Tokyo, Foreign Minister Shigemitsu Mamoru responded
At the “Human Library,” you can “loan” a person to tell you their life story, an original concept born in Denmark that is designed to challenge prejudice and which has spread around the world. Iben — a quiet 46-year-old sexual abuse victim with mental health issues who doesn’t give out her last name — is one of eight “books” curious people can loan on this autumn day in Copenhagen. For 30 minutes, you can ask anything you want, either one-on-one or in a small group. “The Human Library is a safe space where we can explore diversity, learn about ways in which we’re different from each other, and engage with people we normally would never meet... and challenge your unconscious bias,” explains Ronni Abergel, the project’s garrulous initiator. He created the living library in 2000 during the Roskilde music festival and went on to build a non-profit organization. The concept has since found its way into more than 70 countries. “A reading truly is a conversation,” says Abergel. “I’m going to take a few minutes to explain my topic, my background and to make sure that you can ask me anything about being HIV (positive) or disabled, or transgender, or a refugee or Jewish or Muslim or whatever my topic may be.” BLANK PAGES In most cases the conversations flow freely, typically held in a calm environment like a city library, a meeting room, or as today, in the garden of the Human Library’s premises. “Sometimes people ask a lot and the conversation flows. But sometimes I maybe need to tell them a little bit more, ask my readers questions in order for them to reflect or ask new questions,” says Anders Fransen, a 36-year-old blind and hearing impaired “book.” People are encouraged “to ask really difficult questions,” Abergel says, stressing that nothing is off limits, no matter how sensitive the
Sept 27 to Oct 3 When an apparition appeared in a vision telling Easter Lee (李幫助) to build a seminary, she said she would only do so if three conditions were met — conditions that were nearly impossible to meet for a woman born in 1909 to a modest family with 22 children. Still bitter about nearly having to give up her schooling for her younger brother, the ambitious 18-year-old wanted to cancel her arranged marriage, attend seminary school abroad and become Taiwan’s first female pastor. Lee accomplished all three before she turned 40, reaching the final milestone in March 1949 at Kaohsiung’s Qianjin Presbyterian Church (前金長老教會), which she had helped establish three years earlier. In 1953, she fulfilled her promise by founding today’s Tao-sheng Theological Seminary (道生神學院). Through the school’s institutions, she sought to advance women’s education and rights, while she also tackled social problems such as the often-abusive foster daughter system. After moving the seminary to Taipei, she started her quest to build 100 churches with the launch of the Yuanping Dawson Presbyterian Church (延平教會) in 1957. She founded seven more Tao-sheng affiliated churches during the 1970s. Lee’s mission was cut short in 1989 by a stroke that left her bedridden for the last eight years of her life. She died in 1997, but her family donated her savings to help her fulfill one more goal by opening the Dao Sheng Assisted Living Facility in 2011 on the seminary grounds. RELIGIOUS TRAINING Lee was born to a Buddhist fishing family in today’s Shezidao (社子島) area. Her mother contracted tetanus when she was pregnant with Lee, and sought treatment at the nearby Mackay Clinic in Tamsui where she was introduced to Christianity. After recovering, she attended Canadian missionary William Gauld’s sermons and eventually the entire family converted to the religion before Lee’s birth. Per
Are you using that to commute? (1/5) 你要騎去上班嗎？（一） A: Nice bike! Are you using that to commute? B: Well, yes, but I bought it for exercise. A: Are there some good places for off-roading around here? B: No, I’m thinking of going on a long distance trip. See, I’ve had a rack fitted so I can put panniers on the back. A: Cool. Mind if I join you? I’ll need to buy a bike though. A: 你這腳踏車不錯嘛！你要騎去上班嗎？ B: 嗯，對，不過我是為了要運動才買的。 A: 這附近有可以騎越野車的地方嗎？ B: 沒有啦，我是想要騎長程。你看，我已經裝了自行車貨架，就可以掛馬鞍袋了。 A: 酷！我可以加入嗎？不過我得要先買輛自行車才行。 （Paul Cooper, Taipei Times / 台北時報林俐凱譯）
Forging a new three-way alliance with Britain and Australia to the anger of the French, US President Joe Biden has again made brutally clear that his top international priority, overriding all else, will be facing China. Under the alliance christened with the acronym AUKUS, Australia will be the only country other than the UK to have access to US technology to build nuclear-powered submarines — which could deploy in contested waters where Beijing is assertively exerting its claims. The announcement infuriated China, but also France, which lost a contract to build conventional submarines for Australia that was worth A$50 billion (US$36.5 billion) at the time of signing. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian denounced the “stab in the back” by the US, and Paris has recalled its ambassadors to the US and Canberra. AUKUS was unveiled weeks after Biden withdrew remaining US troops from Afghanistan, prompting unusually strong statements from European allies who decried the swift return to power of the Taliban. Biden had long pushed to end the 20-year war and has repeatedly said that Afghanistan was a costly sideshow to China, which his adminstration has described as the primary US rival in the 21st century. “The world is changing. We’re engaged in a serious competition with China,” Biden said in a speech after the last US troops left. Relations between Beijing and Washington look set to continue on their current tricky path, while the Western alliance has also been shaken. (AFP) 美國總統喬‧拜登不惜激怒法國，與英國及澳洲建立新的三方聯盟，再次殘酷地表明，他的國際事務首要目標，是面對中國。 該聯盟名為AUKUS，為澳、英、美三國的首字母縮寫。根據其協議，澳洲將成為除英國之外唯一能獲得美國技術以建造核動力潛艇的國家——這些核子潛艇可部署在北京強勢主張所有權之爭議水域。 此消息公布，激怒了中國，卻也激怒了法國；法國丟了為澳洲製造傳統動力潛艇的合約，該合約簽署時之價格為五百億澳元（三百六十五億美元）。 法國外交部長尚-伊夫‧勒德里安譴責美國的「背後捅刀」，巴黎已召回其駐美國及坎培拉大使。 拜登完成美軍撤出阿富汗後數週，AUKUS聯盟計畫公布，引起歐洲盟國發出異常強烈的聲明，譴責美國的撤軍讓塔利班迅速重掌政權。 拜登長期以來一直努力想結束這場長達二十年的戰爭，並一再表示與中國問題相較，阿富汗戰爭是一個代價高昂的枝節問題；拜登政府稱中國為美國在二十一世紀的頭號競爭對手。 「世界正在改變。我們正與中國進行一場嚴峻的競爭」，拜登在最後一批美軍離開阿富汗時所發表的講話中說道。 北京與華盛頓之間的關係看來將繼續沿著目前棘手的道路前進，而西方聯盟也受到了動搖。 (台北時報林俐凱編譯)
In yet another case of reliance on satellite navigation leading to trouble, a 28-year-old man surnamed Lai from Miaoli County drove his girlfriend to the Lushan hot spring resort area in Nantou County’s Renai Township during the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend. On Tuesday the couple decided to drive to Hehuanshan’s Wuling area to watch the sunrise. According to the police, the couple started out by taking the normal route of Provincial Highway 14 in the direction of Chunyang and Wushe, then turning onto Provincial Highway 14A and passing Cingjing Farm toward Hehuanshan. However, Lai was hooked up to a GPS navigation system and it directed him on a different route: toward a remote mountainous area populated by local village communities. The couple ended up driving onto the Tunyuan industrial road on the border between Jingying and Duda villages. The long winding road was covered with weeds and was only wide enough to take a single sedan car, making it impossible for Lai to turn around. As Lai continued driving on, the road became increasingly narrow and eventually the car sank into boggy ground. Unable to move the car, the couple became alarmed and called the police for assistance. Pingjing Police Station Chief Chang Chien-feng and police officer Liang Ti-wei responded to the call for help and were able to ascertain the precise location of the stranded car. A tow truck arrived but was unable to operate due to the narrowness of the track. The police finally called for assistance from Jingying community members, who used a four-wheel drive vehicle to extract the stricken car, bringing the couple’s nightmarish ordeal to a close. Renai Township Police Precinct reminds members of the public that satellite navigation is for reference only, and advises them to quickly turn around, ask a local for directions or call the
| New Taipei City | 29-32 | 10% |  |
| Hsinchu County | 30-33 | 10% |  |
| Hsinchu City | 30-33 | 10% | |
| Taipei City | 29-32 | 10% | |
| Miaoli County | 30-33 | 10% | |
| Taoyuan City | 29-32 | 10% |  |
| Keelung City | 28-30 | 10% | |
| Yunlin County | 29-33 | 20% | |
| Taichung City | 31-33 | 10% | |
| Nantou County | 30-33 | 10% | |
| Changhua County | 30-33 | 10% | |
| Chiayi County | 30-33 | 10% | |
| Chiayi City | 29-34 | 20% | |
| Tainan City | 30-32 | 10% | |
| Kaohsiung City | 30-32 | 10% | |
| Pingtung County | 29-34 | 20% | |
| Yilan County | 28-31 | 20% | |
| Hualien County | 28-31 | 20% | |
| Taitung County | 29-32 | 20% | |
| Kinmen County | 28-33 | 10% | |
| Penghu County | 29-32 | 10% | |
| Lienchiang County | 27-29 | 10% | |
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