Six prisoners serving lengthy sentences at the Kaohsiung Prison in southern Taiwan attempted to escape on February 11, starting a 14-hour ordeal that ended in the mass suicide of all six inmates. Led by the alleged leader of the Kaohsiung chapter of the Bamboo Union triad, Cheng Li-te, who was serving a 28.5-year sentence for…
On February 4, TransAsia Airways flight GE235 crashed into the Keelung River just after takeoff, killing 43 and injuring 15. The Airbus ATR-72-600 plane carrying 53 passengers – 37 of them Chinese tourists – and five cabin crew took off from Songshan Airport in the heart of Taipei at 10:52 a.m. bound for the offshore…
RAISING CONTROVERSY — Taiwan’s representative in the United States thought a flag-raising ceremony would demonstrate improved U.S.-Taiwan relations, but the U.S. government reacted strongly that it did not appreciate the move. When an unprecedented ceremony raising the flag of the Republic of China took place January 1 at Twin Oaks, a Washington, D.C. estate owned…
CULLING POULTRY — The Formosa Plastics Group provided manpower and disinfecting equipment, as at this goose farm in Chiayi, to help in the effort to respond to the avian flu outbreak. An outbreak of bird flu that began afflicting poultry in Taiwan as early as last fall has escalated into a full-blown epidemic, with the…
President Ma Ying-jeou filed a lawsuit against outspoken commentator and TV talk show host Clara Chou on December 30, alleging defamation over her repeated public accusations that he had received illegal campaign donations. In an open letter to Ma posted on her Facebook account in early December, Chou related information she said she had been…
Unemployment down, consumer confidence up. Low oil prices are spurring growth, but concerns for Taiwan economy arise due to China slowdown. Taiwan moved up three places in the annual world Economic Freedom Index [see the Editorial in this issue] by the Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation, to be ranked the 14th freest economy in the…
Minister of Transportation and Communication (MOTC) Yeh Kuang-shih tendered his resignation on January 7 to accept responsibility for the failure of the Legislative Yuan to approve his plan to rescue the Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) from bankruptcy. Yeh, who had held the office since February 2013, said that without the restructuring plan in…
Former president Chen Shui-bian, serving an 18-year-plus prison term after having been convicted of corruption, was released on medical parole on January 5, following a determination by the evaluation council of the Ministry of Justice’s Correction Agency that his health condition had deteriorated. On that basis, the Taichung District Prosecutors Office, which has jurisdiction over…
AFTER THE FALL — An immobilized Ah-he at the side of the road. The hippo was dead by the next morning, and the entire incident raised questions about the competence of Taiwan’s private zoos. Photo: CNA The gruesome death of An-he, an 18-year-old hippopotamus and the star attraction at privately owned Skyzoo, from injuries sustained…
PASSING THE TORCH — President Ma Ying-jeou congratulates his successor as KMT chairman, New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu. The KMT elected Eric Chu, the recently reelected mayor of New Taipei City, as its new chairman on January 17. Elections were held following Ma Ying-jeou’s resignation as party head last December to take responsibility for…
