Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (
"There is no room for us to make an about-face in carrying out the program," Tsai said after she made an inspection tour of Kinmen, one of two sites selected for the implementation of direct "trade, mail and shipping links."
Tsai arrived in Kinmen early in the morning to inspect preparations for the opening of direct "small three links" between Kinmen's Liaolo port and China's Xiamen port early next year.
Tsai and her entourage first visited a tightly-guarded military base in Tawushan, where they held a meeting with local government officials and senior military officers stationed in Kinmen.
Tsai said the Kinmen County Government has been very active in carrying out work in readiness. "All preparatory programs have been proceeding smoothly," she said, adding that the MAC and the Straits Exchange Foundation are also working together to resolve some problems that need coordination between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Tsai said although there are still some "variables" that may affect the opening of direct "small three links," the possibility of starting the services on Jan. 1 as originally scheduled remains high.
According to a Kinmen County government plan, customs, quarantine and security inspection personnel and all relevant facilities will be ready for operations at the Liaolo port by Dec. 15. And after a two-week trial run or testing, direct "small three links" between Liaolo and Xiamen are expected to be inaugurated on Jan. 1.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)