In the advent of the completion of a series of major national development schemes in China, which are to be finalized before 2010, the Republic of China should endeavor to formulate a cohesive national identity and change its official name to Taiwan, a Japanese expert in international relations said yesterday.
Mineo Nakajima, former superintendent of the Tokyo Foreign Language University and a prominent scholar in international affairs, said: "Taiwan should exploit the opportunity to formulate a cohesive national identity and rectify its name before China reaches the peak of its national strength by hosting the 2008 Olympic Games, completing construction of the Three Gorges Dam in 2009, and holding the World Exposition in 2010."
Invited by Taiwan Advocates, a think-tank founded by former President Lee Teng-hui (
Nakajima said, "it will be best for Taiwan to change its name and complete the process of pursuing a national identity before 2010, as China would be preoccupied with its national development plans until then -- which would not allow it to use force against Taiwan.
"The international community would focus its attention on the robust development of China at this time and it would prevent China from attacking Taiwan. Meanwhile, growing internal problems in Chinese society, including the increasing disparity between rich and poor, the deterioration of its ecological situation and its economic jitters would also take full effect by then. Solving these problems would preoccupy China, so it would not invade Taiwan," Nakajima said.
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
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai