Diplomacy: Chiang ends Manila visit
National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Antonio Chiang (江春男) ended a four-day visit to the Philippines yesterday. On his departure from Manila, Chiang said that he had met think-tank scholars and retired government officials and had discussed a wide range of topics of mutual concern. Chiang said that he also held talks with Taiwanese businessmen, explaining to them the government's "go south" policy and collecting information on their operations and problems. However, Chiang denied media reports that he had discussed the transfer of scores of F-5E jet fighters to the Philippines with government officials.
Crime: 'Hwakang Wolf' enrolls
The "Hwakang Wolf," a serial rapist surnamed Yang who is serving 16 years at Taipei Prison, has registered as a freshman at National Taiwan University (NTU), the university said yesterday. Yang passed the entrance exam last year, but was denied parole to attend the university. His parole application this year was also rejected, although he has been allowed to defer his enrollment at the university to next year. Yang, accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Justice, went to the university to register on Thursday, but could not apply to defer his place because he did not bring his identification card, the ministry said. Nevertheless, friends or relatives can complete his application to defer by Oct. 7.
Mayoral election; Vote-buying alleged
Taipei City councilors from the New Party and KMT yesterday filed a civil lawsuit against DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) alleging vote-buying. New Party City Councilors Chung Hsiao-ping (鐘小平) and Chin Li-fang (秦儷舫) and Wang Cheng-teh (王正德) of KMT say Lee was attempting to buy votes when he gave 20,000 sandbags to residents preparing for Typhoon Sinlaku. Lee's representative, Peng Tien-haw (彭天豪), said it was regrettable that a benevolent act to help people in need has been mischaracterizad. Asked about the allegations, Minister of Justice Chen Ding-nan (陳定南) said it was the prosecution department's job to look into the matter.
Prehistory: Meeting starts in Taipei
The meeting of the Indian Pacific Prehistorical Association (IPPA), the world's top academic organization devoted to research of the prehistory of the Pacific, the Indian Ocean, East Asia and Southeast Asia, kicked off in Taipei yesterday. About 270 historians, linguists, archaeologists and anthropologists from 36 countries and areas are taking part in the 10-day meeting, which will include workshops, discussion panels and field-trip activities on the sidelines. This is the first time that the IPPA has convened its annual meeting in Taiwan, a gesture indicating the organization's recognition of Taiwan's academic status in prehistorical research, particularly in Austronesian studies. More than 250 papers are expected to be read and presented during the 10-day meeting, making it the largest and most significant of its kind ever to be held in Taiwan. The IPPA, founded in 1929, convenes its meeting every four years.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods