■ Diplomacy
DeLay welcomes Chen
US House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Tuesday that he would welcome President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) should he make another visit to the US. DeLay made the remarks while attending a party to mark the 25th anniversary of the Taiwan Relations Act. DeLay said that he expects bilateral relations will be further strengthened during Chen's second term. Asked whether he would support a visit by Chen to Washington during his second term, DeLay said: "Absolutely. I hosted President Chen in Houston and we had a very good time and created a personal relationship during that visit. So anytime the president wants to come, I'm very supportive, even to Washington." Asked whether he has talked to the White House about this in light of the fact that the Bush administration seems to have a different view on the issue, DeLay said that he has always talked to the White House about Taiwan and about Taiwan-US relations. Turning to his views on Chen's plan to introduce a new constitution, DeLay said,"That's not something that the US should dictate or even comment on. That's part of freedom. If they want to have a different constitution, that's their right to do so."
■ Education
Minister mum on reshuffle
Minister of Education Huang Jong-tsun (黃榮村) yesterday declined to comment on whether he will stay in his post. Rumors had suggested he would not be retained once the Cabinet is reshuffled after May 20 presidential inauguration. As one of the ministers singled out by a Chinese-language newspaper that would not continue beyond that date, Huang refused to answer questions from reporters on his political future. Huang said it is a constitutional convention that the Cabinet is reorganized after a new president is inaugurated.
■ Traffic
Rules for Ketagalan changed
The Traffic Engineering Office of the Taipei City Government said yesterday that motorcyclists are now prohibited from traveling on Ketagalan Boulevard between Huaining Street and Chongchin South Road. The office said the change is designed to meet motorists traffic and safety demands. A prohibition on motorcyclists turning left from Ketagalan Boulevard onto Chongchin South Road has been in place for many years. Due to the the boulevard's width, however, signs prohibiting the turn often go unnoticed by motorcyclists, and the prohibition of turning left was usually ignored.
■ Diplomacy
Delegation pushes WHO bid
A group of eight legislators are now in Italy to solicit support for Taiwan's bid to join the World Health Organization (WHO). During their stay, the legislators from the Democratic Progressive Party, the Taiwan Solidarity Union, and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) are expected to meet with Italy's health minister to try to win his support for Taiwan's bid. They are also expected to meet with some of their Italian counterparts, including Giuseppe Palumbo, chairman of the Italian parliament's Social Affairs Committee, as well as with members of the Italian media and visit the Vatican. Before arriving in Italy, the delegation visited Berlin, Germany. They met with German parliamentarians, including Klaus Rose, a member of the External Affairs Committee and chairman of a German-Taiwan friendship group, to discuss the WHO's bid and related developments.
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