■Education
New department formed
National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung has established a new department for studies in material and optoelectronics engineering. P.H. Tseng (曾百亨) has been appointed director of the new department. The department, the first of its kind in the country, was developed from the Institute of Material Science and the Institute of Optoelectronics. The department will have 50 students in the fall semester.
■ Education
Macau students pass exam
A total of 954 students from Macau have passed this year's joint entrance examination for colleges and universities, a Taiwanese educator said in Macau yesterday. He said the number of high-school graduates in the territory willing to take the examination in order to receive a higher education in Taiwan is increasing. This year's number is a record high. T.C. Tsai (蔡之中), representative of the Taipei Trade and Tourism Office in Macau, said the number of Taiwanese investors in Macau and other areas of China is increasing and they tend to prefer job seekers who have received higher education in Taiwan.
■ Economy
Jobless rate dropping: Chen
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said Saturday that the jobless rate will drop, from 4.98 percent in May to an estimated 4.25 percent in November. Citing a forecast by the Council for Economic Planning and Development, Chen said the overall jobless rate for this year is estimated at 4.8 percent. "It will certainly go even lower next year," he said. Speaking at the inauguration of an enterprise association, Chen said the world is facing the problems of "high joblessness and low economic growth. We can resolve these problems by sharpening our competitive edge." He said the public should have confidence in the economy. "Our jobless rate is not too high when compared with those of other countries," he said.
■ Aid
Expatriates offer help
Several associations of Taiwanese expatriates in South Africa donated daily necessities yesterday to about 1,000 destitute families in a remote area located in Northwest Province, with a donation ceremony presided over by the Taiwan's representative to South Africa. Du Ling (杜稜), representative of the Taipei Liaison Office in the Republic of South Africa, praised the expatriates for launching the charity activity, saying that they have always devoted themselves to helping promote the welfare of local disadvantaged groups. Vusi Madonsele, executive director of the South African Ministry of Social Development, expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the expatriates for extending a helping hand to destitute families. About 250 volunteers from Johannesburg, Pretoria and other cities assisted in distributing the donated goods, including sugar, soy beans, laundry detergent, cornmeal, blankets and clothes, at the square in front of the Sisters of Mercy Church.
■ Voting
Police monitor election
Police authorities said yesterday they have activated their monitoring mechanism to prevent vote-buying and violence in the upcoming Hualien County commissioner by-election. With only two weeks to go until voting day, police said they have stepped up precautions against vote-buying and violence in the campaign activities. The Hualien Prosecutors' Office has so far laid 10 vote-buying and violence charges.
Agencies
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
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
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard