■Aviation
Airport due next year
The construction of a new airport at Hengchun, Pingtung County, is expected to be completed early next year, Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) Director-General Chang Kuo-cheng said yesterday. Chang made the statement at a ceremony celebrating his agency's 56th anniversary. Chang said the agency has made Hengchun airport one of its priorities this year, in line with the Cabinet's goal of doubling the number of tourist arrivals. He said construction began in late 1998 and was due to be completed at the end of this year, but the closure of the two contractors handling runway engineering and the terminal forced a suspension of the construction work. The CAA also plans to expand the airports in Hualien, Taitung and Chiayi, as well as move the Pingtung airport from the south of the county to the north, Chang said.
■ Agriculture
Council upbeat over FMD
The Council of Agriculture (COA) said yesterday that it will be two years in February since the last case of foot-and-mouth disease was reported, showing that the country has made progress in fighting the disease. But the COA's Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine cautioned that all livestock owners must continue to vaccinate their animals and make other efforts to prevent another outbreak. The shots are especially important at the moment because it is winter, a time when the resistance of livestock tends to be lower. The officials said that if no new cases are reported in two years, then it can apply to the animal health organization Office International des Epizooties to enter the first stage of registration as a plague-safe area.
■ Diplomacy
Japanese official favors ties
A Japanese politician said in an interview with the Sankei Shimbun newspaper yesterday that parliamentary exchanges between Japan and Taiwan are important to the national interests of the two countries. In the interview conducted in Taipei, Lower House Member Shoichi Nakagawa said that such exchanges are independent from governmental channels and are already under way. Nakagawa, a former agriculture and forestry minister, noted that "parliamentary diplomacy" plays an important role for Japan and Taiwan, whose diplomatic relations were severed in September 1972.
■ Government
Yu accepts resignation
Premier Yu Shyi-kun yesterday approved with reluctance the resignation of Yang Teh-chih (楊德智), chairman of the Veterans Affairs Commission, who has resigned for health reasons. Although it is still unknown who will succeed Yang, speculation is rife that high ranking military officials might take over his job. Leading candidates include Teng Chu-lin (鄧祖琳), director of the Ministry of National Defense's Political Warfare Bureau; Hsieh Chien-Tung (謝建東), commander-in-chief of the Combined Services Force and Chen Ban-chih (陳邦治), chief of the reserve command. According to Cabinet spokesman Chuang Suo-hang (莊碩漢), the premier approved Yu accepted the resignation at 7:40pm yesterday after failing to convince Yang to stay on during their 40-minute meeting. Yu then took Yang to see President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), hoping that Yang would change his mind.
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