Staff writer, with agencies
POLITICS
Tammy Lai ends US citizenship
Tammy Lai (賴佩霞), the running mate of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co founder Terry Gou (郭台銘), an independent presidential contender, yesterday announced that she was officially no longer a US citizen. Gou on Sept. 14 named Lai as his running mate for the Jan. 13 election. Lai immediately contracted lawyers to start the process of forfeiting her US citizenship after the announcement, Gou’s campaign office said yesterday. Gou said his signature drive to officially enter the race had passed first phase reviews this month. Central Election Commission regulations say that Gou and Lai have to prove by Nov. 2 that they have 289,667 signatures to be eligible to register as candidates. Article 27 of the Presidential and Vice Presidential Election and Recall Act (總統副總統選舉罷免法) stipulates that people with foreign citizenship cannot run for office.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei
MILITARY
Manila says no engagements
Manila has no military engagements with Taiwan and it does not expect to have engagements with it, Philippine Army General Romeo Brawner told foreign correspondents yesterday. The Philippine military is ready for any eventuality, although it has not monitored reports on any intended attacks on Taiwan in particular, Brawner said. The military has put up a naval detachment in the country’s northernmost island of Mavulis, 150km from the southern tip of Taiwan.
MILITARY
Chinese warplanes tracked
China flew a raft of warplanes over the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, with 13 of them crossing the median line of the Strait or its extension, the Ministry of National Defense said. The aircraft included J-10, J-16 and Sukhoi S-30 fighters, Y-8 and Y-9 military transport planes, and drones, which entered Taiwan’s northern, central and southwestern air defense identification zone (ADIZ), the ministry said in a statement. Some of the aircraft were on routine “joint combat readiness patrols” conducted by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), while others were part of a joint military exercise by the PLA Navy and Air Force, the ministry said. Taiwan’s armed forces were closely monitoring the situation, and scrambled combat air patrol aircraft and deployed vessels and coastal missile systems in response to the intrusions, it said. On Wednesday, the ministry said it had detected 10 PLA planes in Taiwan’s ADIZ and four military vessels in the country’s surrounding waters.
SPORTS
Paralympians depart
Taiwanese athletes departed for Hangzhou, China, on Wednesday to attend the Asian Paralympic Games, which are to start on Sunday. Ninety-four Taiwanese athletes are to vie for gold medals in 14 sports, including badminton, shooting and swimming, as well as taekwondo, wheelchair fencing and go, which feature for the first time. The athletes were led by Sports Administration Director-General Cheng Shih-chung (鄭世忠), who said he is the first head of the agency to lead paralympic athletes to the quadrennial event. The teams have previously been led by the deputy director-general, Cheng said, adding that all Asian Paralympic Games athletes receive the same treatment as those who participated in the Asian Games last month and this month. He said he would not put too much pressure on the athletes, and hoped they enjoy the competition and perform to the best of their ability.
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