■ Cross-strait tiesNew Party chief off to China
Opposition New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming (郁慕明) said yesterday that he will lead a delegation of Taipei City Council caucus members to China today. Yok said at a news conference that the visit is aimed at strengthening youth exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and studying municipal development in several large cities in China. In addition to visiting some city establishments in Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing, the delegation will communicate with Chinese authorities on issues related to a young-leader camp which the New Party plans to organize there. Yok said that while jointly fielding candidates for next year's presidential election, the KMT and PFP should try to convince the public that they are more capable than the DPP of promoting cross-strait peace by working out clear, concrete and workable policies on China.
■ Foreign affairs
German delegation to visit
German parliamentarian Georg Fahrenschon will arrive in Taipei today, heading a nine-member delegation on a weeklong visit to Taiwan. Other members of the delegation include another German Bundestag member, Stephan Mayer, and Alexander Radwan, a member of the European Parliament. During their stay, the delegation will call on high-ranking government officials and visit several economic and cultural establishments, including the National Palace Museum. Meanwhile, Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, the Vatican's education minister, will also arrive in Taiwan the same day for a six-day visit aimed at better understanding Taiwan's educational, social and economic development.
■ Literature
Medical history examined
An illustrated book documenting Taiwan's medical history during Japanese colonial rule from 1895 through 1945 was published yesterday. Yang Chien-cheng (楊建成), a senior researcher at Academia Sinica, spent 20 years chronicling the development of medical services during the colonial era. According to the book, the Japanese colonial government set up only elementary Western medicine educational institutions in Taiwan while keeping advanced medical training facilities in Japan. Aspiring Taiwan youths had to travel to Japan to study Western medicine during those years. Official tallies show that 2,500 Taiwan youths, including at least 200 women, completed basic training to become qualified medical practitioners during the colonial era.
■ Foreign affairs
Chadian delegation to visit
Guelengdouksia Ouaidou Nassour, president of the Chadian Parliament, will head a six-member delegation which will arrive in Taiwan today for a six-day visit aimed at promoting exchanges between the parliaments of the two countries. Nassour, who was elected president of the Chadian Parliament last year, has long been a good friend of Taiwan. He visited Taiwan in 1998 in his capacity as prime minister. During his visit, Nassour will call on President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平). He will also visit several economic and cultural establishments, including the Taipei World Trade Center, the Taitung Agricultural Improvement Station and the National Palace Museum. After Taiwan and Chad resumed diplomatic relations in 1997, the two countries immediately began cooperating in the fields of medicine, agriculture, electrical engineering and infrastructure.
RSS