■ Transportation
New airport planned
The government plans to develop Ching Chuan Kang Air Base in Taichung County into an international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Ling-san (林陵三) said yesterday. Speaking at a briefing for President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on the government's plan to develop a north-south high-speed railway network, Lin said CKS International Airport will continue to serve as the nation's main international airport. The new facility in central Taiwan will serve as an auxiliary international airport. The new airport will be developed in three stages, Lin said.
■ Crime
Ringing bra betrays thief
A woman was caught red-handed and red-faced yesterday after the mobile phone she had stolen and hidden inside her bra rang, Taipei police said. The 52-year-old woman panicked when her bust started ringing and vibrating in front of other customers, police said. "She attempted to cover the strange scene with her handbag and dash out of the shop, only to be blocked by the shopkeeper, who was looking everywhere for her lost cellphone," an officer said. The officer said the theft had been recorded by the store's security camera. The suspect had picked up the shopkeeper's cellphone, which had been left on the sales counter, and stuffed it inside her bra. The shopkeeper's husband just happened to call her on her cellphone seconds after the suspect had grabbed it.
■ Education
Ministry revises scholarships
The Ministry of Education will reallocate government scholarships for overseas studies by offering more set-amount scholarships while reducing the quota of full-coverage funding for graduate studies, a ministry official said yesterday. The official said interested people should submit applications to the ministry. The official said that people receiving such scholarships are obliged to return to Taiwan after completing their studies and work here for the same period of time they spent abroad. A student on a full-coverage scholarship is awarded around NT$1 million for tuition, books, board and lodging, air fare and health insurance.
■ Diplomacy
Frutos pledges friendship
Paraguayan president-elect Nicanor Duarte Frutos said Wednesday that his country will continue to support Taiwan in the international community. Frutos, who will be inaugurated today, made the pledge during a banquet he gave in honor of Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), who will attend the inauguration on behalf of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). Frutos said Paraguay will enter a new era when he assumes the presidency. He said that Paraguay and Taiwan have long been friends and that both the government and people appreciate the assistance given by Taiwan.
■ Environment
Further rationing postponed
The implementation of second-phase water rationing measures in the greater Taipei area and third-phase measures in Keelung have been postponed, the Water Resources Agency reported yesterday. Torrential afternoon rains in recent days have allowed the water catchment of Feitsui Reservoir -- the main supplier of water for the greater Taipei area -- to take in 82.5mm of rainfall over the last three days, greatly easing water shortage pressure in Taipei City, officials said.
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