■ National security
Suspicious barrels seized
Government official have seized 158 barrels of chemicals from a North Korean ship for inspection on a tip-off that the chemicals may be dangerous, a customs official said yesterday. The Be Gae Bong was allowed to leave for Pyongyang after unloading the chemicals at Kaohsiung port on Monday, the official said. "We suspect the chemicals carried by the North Korean ship are dangerous and are holding the 158 barrels for inspection," the official said by telephone. He declined to give more details. Officials boarded the ship last week after it arrived from Bangkok on a tip-off that it was carrying substances that could be used for "military purposes."
■ Taxation
Don't tax rich: lawmaker
Higher taxes on the rich will only lead to capital flight and will not benefit workers, DPP Legislator Lin Cho-hsui (林濁水) said yesterday. Lin made the remarks in the wake of a suggestion by the Alliance of Fairness and Justice that the government reimpose a "capital gains" tax on the rich so as to balance the tax burden between entrepreneurs and average workers. The "pan-purple alliance" aims to speak for the underprivileged, including those who are becoming disadvantaged because of social injustice. If Taiwan imposes higher taxes on the rich, they will flock to other countries, he said. Lin said that any country that tries to tackle this problem single-handedly will face difficulties. "The alliance aims to help Taiwan's laborers, but it could end up making the lives of laborers more miserable," he said.
■ Diplomacy
Taiwan ready for summit
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that the government has prepared well for the visit of the heads of state of the nation's Latin American allies for a summit meeting in Taipei next week. Chen made the remarks when he met with Carlos Larios Ochaita, president of the judicial system and the Supreme Court of Justice of the Republic of Guatemala. Chen expressed the hope that Larios' first visit to Taipei will help promote bilateral cooperation in judicial matters between the two countries. He also expressed his appreciation for Guatemala's steadfast support for this country over the years, especially for the Taipei's bid to join the UN and other international organizations. The heads of state of Panama, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic will join Chen for the Aug. 21 summit.
■ Coast guard
Captain calls for help
A Coast Guard vessel came to the assistance of a Taiwan fishing ship yesterday which asked for help after claiming it was being threatened by the Chinese crew on board. The fishing ship, Chinhaifu No. 12, headed out from Tungkang, Pingtung, into the Pacific Ocean on June 19. The captain of the ship is from Taiwan; there were two Indonesians and five Chinese fishermen aboard. Captain Huang Teh-chuan (黃德川) urgently called for help saying that he had been threatened by the Chinese fishermen aboard. The Coast Guard vessel found the captain and the crew safe. The military escorted the ship back to Kaohsiung Harbor for further questioning. Meanwhile, another fishing ship registered in Pingtung, the Chang Tsung Cheng, had been out of communications for 12 days as of yesterday and remained missing as of last reports.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods