■ Education
Mandatory learning extended
The country's nine-year compulsory education will be extended by one year to include kindergarten, Minister of Education Huang Jong-tsun (黃榮村) said yesterday. The minister said the extension will first be implemented in the island counties of Kinmen, Lienchiang and Penghu next year before spreading to the rest of the counties in 2005. Vice Minister of Education Wu Tie-hsiung (吳鐵雄), who has been given charge of implementing the policy, said that in the three island counties, there are 1,800 children who will benefit. The ministry is trying to find the funds to finance the extra year of tuition, which is about NT$5,000 per student for public kindergartens and NT$12,000 for private kindergartens. The current NT$5,000 education voucher provided to each kindergarten student will be eliminated under the new program. The ministry will also help the country's kindergartens in improving their facilities and the quality of their teaching staff, Wu said.
■ Language
Yu stresses translation
In a drive to boost Taiwan's ability to take part in international activities, major policies crafted by government agencies should be written in both Chinese and English, Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday. Yu said policies of major concern, such as those on financial reform and national defense, as well as government signs related to the public's daily life, should be presented and explained in the two languages. But not all government documents should be required to be written in Chinese and English, Yu said, stressing that only major and professional policies need to be put forward in this way. The premier also said that government agencies should make their own translations instead of the Executive Yuan.
■ Society
Chen praises police
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) commended the country's police force for the wide range of duties they perform and for always being available when the public needs them. Chen expressed his respect for police officers, recognizing the demanding nature of their job and the long hours they put in to serve the people. He noted that their work includes sacrifices such as working on holidays and expressed empathy for the fact that their busy jobs affect their ability to perform their roles as sons, fathers or husbands. He also expressed his apologies to the families of police officers for the sacrifices the officers have had to make in carrying out their duties.
■ DIPLOMACY
Slutz off to Mongolia
American Institute in Taiwan deputy director Pamela Slutz has been named the next US ambassador to Mongolia. President George W. Bush made the announcement in Washington on Friday. Slutz has been AIT's number-two person since September 2001. She served as acting AIT director for several months after Bush named the former AIT director, Raymond Burghardt, to become the US Ambassador to Vietnam in September 2001. A career member of the US Senior Foreign Service, Slutz served as a political officer in Jakarta, and before that served as an official with the State Department's Bureau of East Asian Affairs and office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it