■ Religion
Buddhist master in Canada
Zen Buddhist Master Sheng Yen (聖嚴) of Taiwan delivered a lecture on Buddha's teachings in Vancouver on Saturday entitled "A Peaceful Mind is the Source of all Peace." In his first speech in Canada in eight years, Yen said that peace is fortune, that peace derives from the heart and that if one seeks peace, one must first examine the thoughts circulating in one's mind. Talking about a recent journey he made to the Middle East, Yen said that prior to the journey many people warned him against going there, on the grounds that it would be unsafe to travel in an area rife with military conflicts. He said he had no fear because his mind was at peace. He said it had been his honor to share Buddha's teachings with people and policy-makers in the Middle East at a time when peace is keenly needed worldwide. More than 2,300 people, Chinese as well as foreigners, attended Yen's Vancouver speech. He was in Israel and Palestine from Dec. 9 to Dec. 15 in an effort to help put an end to conflict in the area by means of spiritual enlightenment.
■ Earthquakes
Tremor shakes southeast
An earthquake measuring 4.1 on the Richter scale jolted the country yesterday, but there were no reports of damage or casualties, seismologists said. The tremor struck at 1:16pm with its epicenter 11.6km northwest of Taitung, the Seismology Center said. The quake, originating 10.8km underground, followed a 6.6-Richter scale earthquake on Dec. 10, which was the most powerful to hit the nation this year but caused only minor damage and injuries in the south.
■ Animals
Tiger bites zookeeper
An employee of the Taipei Zoo was bitten by a tiger yesterday afternoon when he was cleaning an outdoor animal-display area. Yang Tsung-hsian (楊崇賢), vice president of the zoo, said the employee was bitten in the leg. He was sent to a hospital for treatment. The biggest zoo in the country, Taipei Zoo has more than 2,300 animals and 310 different species. There are eight outdoor display areas and several indoor display areas. The man was bitten in the Asian Tropical Rainforests Animal Area. In the Education Center of the zoo there are special houses displaying nocturnal animals, koalas, penguins, insects and other animals.
■ Human Rights
Chen wants to help disabled
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday that promotion of the rights of the disabled is one of the government's goals. Chen said that the government is striving to establish a "fair and just" welfare state and that it will adopt a "pragmatic and creative" approach to promote the welfare of and services for the disabled. He noted that as of the end of September, around 810,000 people in Taiwan are registered as disabled, or around 3.73 percent of the population. This, he said, highlights the fact that their basic needs should be addressed and their rights better protected. He noted that the government has appropriated a budget of NT$24.99 billion (US$73.5 million) this year to take care of the disabled. In addition, he said that in order to better provide for the disabled in low- and middle-income families, the monthly subsidies will be raised by NT$1,000 to between NT$3,000 and NT$7,000 starting Jan. 1.
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