■Politics
Group heads to Washington
Taiwan Legislative Yuan President Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) left for Washington on Sunday at the head of a delegation of 10 legislators from across Taiwan's political spectrum for a three-day visit. In Washington, Wang and the legislators, most of them members of the legislative committee of national defense, are scheduled to call on the US Congress, the Department of State and the Department of Defense. Unconfirmed sources from the Legislative Yuan said last week that the US invited Wang in the hope that he will help smooth legislative screening of budget proposals for Taiwan's purchase of US weapons in the future. Wang and the legislators are also expected to meet with academics from a few top think-tanks to exchange views on matters of mutual concern. The legislators arrived in New York last Friday and have not engaged in any public activities.
■ Students
Walk-in visas approved
Starting from today, local applicants for the US student, exchange-visitor and vocational-student visas can apply without making an appointment, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said yesterday. The AIT said the decision was made in an attempt to resolve delays in processing student and exchange visitor visas. The new measure can allow applicants to avoid the one-week wait for appointments. Applicants in these classes may come to apply any morning, Monday through Friday, between 8am and 11:30am, the AIT said. These applicants will still need the appropriate form, a completed application, a fee receipt and a valid passport to help facilitate the handling of the visa issuance, the AIT added.
■ United States
COA offers lychee tasting
The Council of Agriculture is promoting fresh lychees in the US this weekend by offering free tastes of the fruit in certain shopping centers in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Silicon Valley. lychees are a sweet and juicy tropical fruit similar to but larger than lungans. The US has agreed to import lychees, mangoes and starfruits from Taiwan. The council is trying to make inroads into the US market for Taiwan lychees. The council hopes that Taiwan lychees will become as popular in the world market as American cherries are in Taiwan, Wang Ming-lai, director of the council's Department for International Cooperation, said on Sunday. He said that Taiwan's agriculture must undergo transformation under the framework of the WTO, and that growing high quality fruits for export is one of the ways to do this. The council plans to export 5,000 tonnes of lychees this year, mainly to the US, Canada and the Philippines.
■ Sport
Baseball spit rule enforced
The government yesterday started banning players from spitting during professional baseball games on the grounds it sets a bad example to fans and children watching games on TV, officials said.
Under the ban, a violator will be fined NT$6,000 each time he spits, the National Sports Council said. Some players called the latest measure "unbelievable," insisting they must be allowed to spit because of dust on the playing field. "I just can't believe they made such a rule. No baseball advanced countries like the United States and Japan would ban their players as it is a normal reaction to spit if sand comes into their mouths when they are making catches or running on the field," said Chao Shih-chiang (趙世強), head coach of Gida team.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai