Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA) held an exercise in Taichung Harbor in Central Taiwan Saturday to demonstrate its capability in defending Taiwan's sovereignty and fishing rights and maintaining maritime safety.

Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) said yesterday that he would be happy to see Liao Liou-yi (廖了以), who recently resigned as chairman of the Association of East Asian Relations (AEAR), run in next year's Taichung mayoral race, which will be held as part of the nationwide seven-in-one elections.

Taichung Mayor Jason Hu said Monday his government will step up efforts to develop the city's Wufeng District into a hub for making movies.

Greater Taichung looks set to be a key factor the seven-in-one elections in 2014 as Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislators Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍), Tsai Chi-chung (蔡其昌) and Su Chia-chuan all expressed yesterday a desire to run for mayor of Taichung.

The Taichung Customs Office yesterday intercepted 10 containers of undeclared fertilizer imported by a Tainan-based trading house.

The Taichung Motor Vehicles Office (TMVO, 台中監理所) recently held auctions of motor vehicle registration plates online, with a plate numeric code ending with 8888 having 17 bids and the final bid reaching NT$36,000, according to the TMVO yesterday.

An international five-star hotel, the first of its kind, opened yesterday in Taichung City.

A young woman in Taichung was sent to a hospital recently after developing severe abdominal pain that was later found to be linked to infectious mononucleosis, also known as “kissing disease.”

The Kuomintang (KMT) began some self-examination yesterday, after its candidate Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) barely won an election for his father's legislative seat.

The parents of an 11-year-old boy were detained by prosecutors in Taichung City for allegedly beating their son to death in physical punishment.