Academia Sinica yesterday hailed the election of three Taiwanese scientists, including its president, James Liao (廖俊智), to The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), but said it would require the academy to correct its documents, which refer to the nation as “Taiwan, China.”
A global science academy based in Trieste, Italy, TWAS has more than 1,200 members. On Tuesday last week, it announced a list of 36 newly elected fellows, which is to take effect next month.
Liao was recognized for using metabolic engineering, synthetic biology and systems biology to construct microorganisms to produce next-generation biofuels and to study the obesity problem in humans, TWAS said.
Photo courtesy of Academia Sinica
Also an elected member of the US National Academy of Engineering, Liao on Dec. 3 received the Novozymes Award for Excellence in Biochemical and Chemical Engineering in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Chung Bon-chu (鍾邦柱), a distinguished research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Molecular Biology, was honored for her elucidation of the regulation of steroids and delineation of steroidogenic pathways in zebrafish, TWAS said, adding that her work helped “opened new research directions.”
Lu Chih-yuan (盧志遠), president of Macronix (旺宏電子) and chairman of Ardentec Corp (欣銓科技), is a distinguished chair professor for research at National Taiwan University’s Department of Physics and was elected an academician of Academia Sinica last year.
Lu has made outstanding technical contributions in semiconductor device physics, silicon integrated circuit processes development and integration technologies, and is described as “an innovative high-tech entrepreneur and outstanding industrial leader in [the] semiconductor industry” by TWAS.
Being elected into the academy not only demonstrates the personal achievements of academics, but also reflects their home countries’ efforts in promoting science, Academia Sinica said.
However, the three scientists are listed as being from “Taiwan, China” on the TWAS Web site.
Academia Sinica quoted Liao as saying that it would write to the academy to ask it to correct the name of the country.
The three scientists are to be awarded new memberships at TWAS’ general meeting in November next year, Academia Sinica added.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
The China Coast Guard has seized control of a disputed reef near a major Philippine military outpost in the South China Sea, Beijing’s state media said, adding to longstanding territorial tensions with Manila. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost all of the South China Sea and has waved away competing assertions from other countries as well as an international ruling that its position has no legal basis. China and the Philippines have engaged in months of confrontations in the contested waters, and Manila is taking part in sweeping joint military drills with the US which Beijing has slammed as destabilizing. The Chinese coast guard
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification