Defendants visit scene of 2018 killingBy Jason Pan / Staff reporterHigh Court officials and police investigators yesterday brought four defendants and a key witness to a riverside park in New Taipei City’s Yonghe District (永和) to re-enact the events leading to the murder of a Canadian citizen in 2018. Israeli-American Oren Mayer was sentenced to life in prison, while American Ewart Bent was given 12 years and six months for killing Ramgahan, and dismembering and abandoning his body on Aug. 21, 2018. Hobbie, arrested and detained in October 2018, has served his prison term and was released. A key witness in the case, a man in his 30s surnamed Chang (張), was also at the on-site review. He told investigators that he was fishing on the bank of the Sindian River (新店溪) near the area on the night of the incident.

Green energy advocacy groups suggest different pathsBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterThe Taiwan Photovoltaic Industrial Association yesterday urged the government to take stronger measures to boost green energy installations, saying that the latest restrictions imposed by the Council of Agriculture (COA) would jeopardize the nation’s green energy developments. Photo: Chang Hui-wen, Taipei TimesThe COA in July tightened the restrictions on solar farms built on certain agricultural land and fish farms. The council called for the installation of more rooftop systems and dual-use solar/aquaculture farms to reach Taiwan’s green energy goals. Hong said that the COA “caved under public pressure” and “is thinking to small,” adding that aquaculture and rooftop systems would not provide enough green energy to meet the goal. If the new restrictions stay in place, 10GW would be the highest possible share for solar energy, he said.

Groups back Inner Mongolia protestBy Huang Hsin-po and Jason Pan / Staff reportersAboriginal groups yesterday voiced support for the people of Inner Mongolia, saying that China is to blame for protests because it is suppressing Mongolian language and culture in the region. “The fastest way to wipe out an ethnic group is to cut them off from their mother tongue,” she said. “It forced them to identify as Han Chinese ... so I can understand what the people of Inner Mongolia are going through right now,” he said. “We want to raise awareness of this issue and to protest against this shameful policy of the Chinese regime,” he said. “As a proud father of a three-year-old daughter, I want her to speak our mother tongue freely at kindergarten,” Lim said.

The draft act defines negative heritage as sites where human rights violations had been committed, including oppression, illegal executions, labor or re-education camps, during the White Terror era. Negative heritage sites are to serve as a reminder to the government of its past actions and to guard against committing similar acts, Lin added. Maintaining them would promote transitional justice education and would be different from cultural heritage sites under the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act (文化資產保存法), Lin said, adding that cultural heritage sites may also be designated as sites of historic injustice. Once a site has been approved, it — like cultural heritage sites — cannot be further developed, Lin added. Replicas of buildings that have been torn down can also be rebuilt on these sites, Lin said.

China’s top memory chipmaker unable to wean off USBloombergChina’s top flash memory chipmaker sees no easy way to replace US chipmaking gear, underscoring how a further crackdown on the supply of US technology would devastate the local semiconductor industry. Yangtze Memory Technologies Co (長江存儲) gets more than 80 percent of its equipment from the US and Japan, said Zheng Jiuli (鄭久利), vice president in charge of supply chain management. “Long-term investments in innovation and R&D [research and development] have led to technological advantages” at US and Japanese suppliers, Zheng said. “This is also the reason why their products are currently in the mainstream and are difficult to replace,” Zheng added. Yangtze Memory has not set a target for domestic procurement, Zheng said, adding that it would be “unscientific” to do so.

The inspection rate of imported meat and meat products was only 4 percent. We doubt if the inspectors would be able to conduct intensive inspections as the ministry has promised with expanded imports of US meat products,” Wang said. Inspections of US meat products should not interfere with examinations of other food products, she added. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) labels meat product as “USDA Organic” only if they do not contain ractopamine, NPP Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said. This year the Canadian government made ractopamine-free a criterion for meat products to receive a quality label, Chen said.

The defense ministry had earlier issued an English-language statement on Twitter calling on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to exercise restraint and for the CCP to be a peacemaker and maintain regional stability. Office of Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence Deputy Chief Yang Ching gives a briefing at the Ministry of National Defense in Taipei last night. The Chinese exercise was closely monitored from start to finish, the defense ministry said. Deputy Minister of National Defense Chang Che-ping (張哲平) said that the consecutive incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone posed a severe threat to Taiwan’s air defenses and regional stability. PLA fighter jets are operating in the vicinity of international flight paths and could pose a threat to international civilian flights, he said.

Trade show to connect PPE firms with foreign buyersBy Angelica Oung / Staff reporterMedical Taiwan, set to begin on Oct. 15 in the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center’s Hall 2, is to feature personal protective equipment (PPE) as COVID-19 continues to spread around the world, event organizer the Taiwan External Trade Council (TAITRA) said yesterday. The three-day event would also offer a virtual exhibition for foreign buyers who cannot make it to Taiwan due to travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the TAITRA added. “We will have a normal exhibition for local buyers, but for foreign buyers, who cannot come in person, we will have a virtual exhibition.”A mannequin, left, clad in personal protective equipment (PPE) is pictured yesterday in Taipei at a news conference for the annual Medical Taiwan trade show. The company’s expertise in making PPE goes back to the SARS crisis of 2003, Liao added. “We’ve obtained certifications, including CE marking certification and FDA approval, and hope to connect with international buyers at the show.”

Top US economic official to visit next week: reportBy Sherry Hsiao and Angelica Oung / Staff reportersUS Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Keith Krach is to visit Taiwan to host an economic dialogue next week, online media outlet ETtoday reported yesterday, although government officials refused to confirm a schedule. The ETtoday report said that Krach is scheduled to visit from Thursday to Saturday next week and host a US-Taiwan Economic and Commercial Dialogue, citing anonymous sources. Asked yesterday about Krach’s visit, the AIT said that it could not confirm the schedule. “The US Trade Representative [USTR] and the Department of State are in charge of different things. The USTR is the body we talk to about the TIFA, while the state department talks to us about strategic cooperation,” she said, adding that the state department is in charge of the economy and energy.

Telecoms could shut down 3G systems by 2024 if the nation’s VoLTE service has a high adoption rate and telecoms ensure that consumer rights are fully protected, NCC Deputy Chairman and spokesman Wong Po-tsung (翁柏宗) said. The spectrum used to build the 3G system could also be used to build the 5G system,” Wong said. Telecoms should not encounter many technical difficulties in shutting down 3G systems as they experienced the termination of 2G systems, Wong said. Telecoms, which are to set their own timetable for the shutdown, can terminate their 3G before 2024 if they satisfy the two requirements, he added. The new act gives telecoms greater flexibility in developing new business models, such as allowing them to share frequency bands, Wong said.

President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Aug. 28 announced that Taiwan would ease restrictions on imports of US pork containing ractopamine and beef from cattle aged 30 months or older. Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators in Taipei yesterday call for food safety laws to be amended due to the proposed import of US pork containing ractopamine. The KMT also criticized the government’s handling of whether or not pork fat would require country of origin labeling. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) late on Monday published draft amendments to food labeling requirements whereby, with the exception of cases where pork fat itself is the product, food products containing pork fat would be exempt from country of origin labeling for the pork fat ingredient. It would also seek to amend Article 23 of the School Health Act to prohibit the use of meat containing ractopamine, or processed meat products containing meat that has traces of ractopamine, in school meals, she said.

Yachting focus of weekend events at Keelung PortMARINE RECREATION: Events for new yachting license holders and those interested in obtaining one, two-day tours, and a large gathering are slatedBy Shelley Shan / Staff reporterThe Maritime and Port Bureau yesterday said that it is to host several yachting-related events in Keelung’s Badouzi Port (八斗子) the weekend next week in accordance with the Executive Yuan’s “Salute to the Sea” policy. This would be the seventh year the bureau has hosted events to promote yachting as a recreational activity, it said. Officials of the Maritime and Port Bureau yesterday greet the audience at an event to promote a series of yachting events in Keelung this weekend. One of the events is to feature 200 new yachting license holders, the bureau said, adding that the bureau hopes to attract more people to the sport. This weekend would see a number of yachting events, bureau section chief Chan Chiang-chuan (詹家銓) said.

Tsai accepts Presidential Office spokesman’s exitStaff writer, with CNAPresident Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday approved the resignation of Presidential Office spokesman Ting Yun-kung (丁允恭) following reports about his private life in local media. Ting in a statement earlier in the day said that he had submitted his resignation and it had been accepted by the president. Ting apologized for the trouble the scandal has caused his superiors and everyone concerned, adding that his actions have betrayed the public’s expectations. Former Presidential Office spokesman Ting Yun-kung speaks at a news conference at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei in an undated photograph. The ex-girlfriend said they had sex several times in his Kaohsiung office during work hours, the magazine reported.

LGBT groups defend marriage-equality bookAGAINST DISCRIMINATION: “King & King,” gifted by the Ministry of Education to first graders, would help children understand unfamiliar matters, the book’s translator saidBy Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporterSeveral LGBT rights, gender equality and parents’ groups yesterday held a press conference in support of the Ministry of Education’s selection of a book for elementary-school readers about two princes falling in love with each other. However, the selection of the book has been protested by some groups over its LGBT content. Members of LGBT rights, gender equality and parents’ groups yesterday hold placards in support of the book King & King in front of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. Claims that the book is “not age-appropriate” make not “one bit of sense,” Kaohsiung Holistic Education Parents’ Association President Yen Jen-yi (顏任儀) said. 11 in 2018, and others called on the ministry to withdraw the book to comply with the results of the referendum.

Virus Outbreak: Airlines offering a moon feast for Mid-Autumn FestivalBy Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporterEVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) and StarLux Airlines Co (星宇航空) yesterday both launched “flight to nowhere” programs for next month’s Mid-Autumn Festival, hoping to offer passengers a rare opportunity to catch a glimpse of the moon from a plane. The latest offering follows their programs last month for Father’s Day and Lovers’ Day (also known as the Qixi Festival), in which tickets sold out quickly. EVA said it would offer one evening flight per day during the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend from Oct. 1 to Oct. 4. The company plans to deploy the plane for four “flight to nowhere” services during the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend from Oct. 1 to Oct. 4. Meanwhile, StarLux Airlines Co (星宇航空) plans to offer six “fly to the moon” flights on Oct. 1 and Oct. 2, using its A321neo planes.