■ Diplomacy
New WHO bid planned
Taiwan is planning to renew its bid to join the World Health Organization (WHO) as an observer despite seeing seven previous attempts blocked by China, foreign ministry spokesman Richard Shih (石瑞琦) said yesterday. Shih said the government would apply for membership once more when the World Health Assembly meets in Geneva on May 17. "Preparations have been underway, but it is not proper to unveil details at this moment," he said. The Liberty Times cited an unnamed ministry official as reporting that Taiwan would apply again as "The Republic of China." Department of Health Director General Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) reportedly received pledges of support from US Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson during a recent visit to Washington.
■ Culture
Taipei plans new center
The Taipei City Government is soliciting builders for the Taipei Cultural Center, which is envisaged as a modern and multifunctional center for art and cultural activities. In order to pool the financial strength and creative resources of the private sector, the city has decided to allow private investors to build the center on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, said Liao Hsien-hao (廖咸浩), director of the city's Cultural Affairs Bureau. If everything goes smoothly, Liao said, the center is expected to be built and open to the public by June 2008. The center will include a 1,500-seat music hall, a 1,000-seat theater, a 1,000-seat concert hall, a museum, a hotel, gym, several restaurants and other facilities, Liao said. The first-stage investment in the center will be around NT$11.4 billion (US$345.45 million), Liao said.
■ Health
Blood donors hailed
The Blood Donation Association and Blood Services Foundation celebrated 30 years of free blood donations yesterday with various activities held at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, as well as with citations for the most prolific donors. Tsai Pei-huo (蔡培火), president of Taiwan branch of the Red Cross Society, established the Chinese Blood Donation Association Taiwan on April 19, 1974, opening the era of blood donation without payment in Taiwan. Chang Kuo-shen (張國森), 48, was cited for making the most donations. Chang, from Tainan, has made 805 donations since he started regular donations on May 2, 1977. Wang Chiu-Chuan, 45, was the No. 1 female blood donor, having made 605 donations since May 30, 1986. Huang Lien-chung (黃連宗) and his family members were cited for being a "model blood-donating family," because all four members have been active in blood donations. Huang himself has made 228 donations.
■ Weather
Cold front on its way
The Central Weather Bureau yesterday said that the weather this week would be unstable and chances of rain in the north and the northeast might increase later this week. After a couple of warm days, a cold front passed Taiwan yesterday, increasing the chances of rain in certain areas in the north. A heavy-rain warning was issued yesterday morning to residents in the north. The temperature yesterday in the north decreased to about 22?C. Forecasters said yesterday that the front would become weaker today and the weather would be fine. However, the fine weather will be followed by another cold front on Wednesday.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) mention of Taiwan’s official name during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Wednesday was likely a deliberate political play, academics said. “As I see it, it was intentional,” National Chengchi University Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies professor Wang Hsin-hsien (王信賢) said of Ma’s initial use of the “Republic of China” (ROC) to refer to the wider concept of “the Chinese nation.” Ma quickly corrected himself, and his office later described his use of the two similar-sounding yet politically distinct terms as “purely a gaffe.” Given Ma was reading from a script, the supposed slipup
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,
The bodies of two individuals were recovered and three additional bodies were discovered on the Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑) in Taroko National Park, eight days after the devastating earthquake in Hualien County, search-and-rescue personnel said. The rescuers reported that they retrieved the bodies of a man and a girl, suspected to be the father and daughter from the Yu (游) family, 500m from the entrance of the trail on Wednesday. The rescue team added that despite the discovery of the two bodies on Friday last week, they had been unable to retrieve them until Wednesday due to the heavy equipment needed to lift