■ Culture
Get some `zongzi' in you
The Council of Hakka Affairs held a press conference yesterday to urge people to sample Hakka-style zongzi (粽子), or glutinous rice dumplings, during this year's Dragon Boat Festival. Dressed in traditional Hakka costume, council Chairman Luo Wen-jia (羅文嘉) and his wife, Liu Chao-yi (劉昭儀), wrapped dumplings while explaining the differences between Hakka zongzi and traditional zongzi. Luo said there are three kinds of traditional Hakka-style zongzi: salty (鹹粽), sweet (鹼粽) and banzong (粄粽), a smaller, drier variety blending rice types which keeps longer. Many of the ingredients used in Hakka zongzi are familiar to non-Hakka people, Luo said. But instead of wrapping chunks of meat into the rice dumplings as is normally done, Hakka people mix finely-chopped meat in with the rice so that it can better absorb the flavor of the meat.
■ Crime
Record drug bust off Kinmen
Coast guard officers arrested a Chinese fisherman for drug trafficking in waters near Kinmen early yesterday. The officers also seized 30kg of ketamine, a proscribed drug, hidden in the fishing boat said to be owned by the fisherman, identified as Peng Chuitong (彭垂桐). It was the largest ketamine bust on record in or around Kinmen. The seized ketamine has an estimated street value of NT$15 million, the coast guard officers said. The fisherman claimed that he had been hired by an unidentified man to transport the ketamine, wrapped in 24 well-designed food packs, to waters near Kinmen where a prospective buyer was supposed to take delivery of the drug for shipment to Taiwan. Coast guard officers said they suspected that Peng's smuggling operation might be connected to a crime ring in northern Taiwan.
■ Olympic Games
Stipends to spur athletes
To encourage athletes to perform to the best of their ability at the Athens Olympics, the National Council of Physical Fitness and Sports is planning to award medalists lifelong stipends. Under the plan, the winner of a gold medal will receive NT$75,000 per month for life, silver medalists will get NT$38,000 and bronze medalists will receive NT$25,000. Council officials said that in order to provide long-term care and protection for athletes who perform well in the Olympics, they have emulated South Korea's practice of giving cash awards to outstanding athletes. The council has completed revisions to draft regulations on the presentation of medals and cash awards to athletes. Under the revised regulations, teams that take part in an event with less than 10 competitors and which place between fifth and eighth will be presented with medals by the government but receive no cash award.
■ Transportation
Museum slated for airport
A Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator suggested that Taichung's Shuinan Airport be turned into an aviation museum. DPP Legislator Lee Ming-hsien (李明憲) said that the Shuinan terminal has been idle since March 6 after civil aviation operations were transferred to Chingchuankang (清泉崗) Airport, a former military facility that was converted for military and civilian use. Lee invited officials from the Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Transportation and Communications to visit the Shuinan terminal, which was refurbished only three years ago, for an inspection yesterday. A comprehensive plan for a terminal museum has yet to be finalized, but Lee said that Shuinan had historical significance and should remain in the industry.
■ Arms budget
Legislators examine aircraft
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday led a group of legislators in Hawaii to examine the P-3C aircraft that could be purchased from the US under the special budget of NT$610.8 billion (US$18.25 billion). It was the first time the US army allowed Taiwanese without a military background to visit the US Pacific Command. The group was received by Brigadier General Charles Neeley, chief of staff for the Strategic Planning and Policy Directorate. They were briefed about the aircraft and they also boarded to take a closer look. The legislators are scheduled to exchange opinions on security affairs in the Asia-Pacific region with US officers tomorrow. They will also attend a reception and dinner.
■ Agriculture
Lychees now in season
The Council of Agriculture urged consumers yesterday to seize the opportunity to enjoy lychees in view of their shorter harvest period this year. Officials from the Agriculture and Food Agency noted yesterday that lychees grown in Taichung, Nantou, Changhua, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are now being harvested and will be in season until the middle of next month. The officials said that the crop this year is not as good as in previous years due to the weather. They estimated that annual production will be only 70,760 tonnes, 25 percent less than the 94,347 tonnes harvested last year. Despite the smaller crop, the officials said they will still assist farmers to promote the fruit and will help them market it to the US, Japan and Canada. They also suggested that consumers can keep the fruit fresh for a longer period by putting them in a light salt solution, drying them off and putting them in the refrigerator.
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
The Supreme Court today rejected an appeal filed by former Air Force officer Shih Chun-cheng (史濬程), convicted of Chinese Communist Party (CCP) espionage, finalizing his sentence at two years and two months for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法). His other ruling, a ten-month sentence for an additional contravention, was meanwhile overturned and sent to the Taichung branch of the High Court for retrial, the Supreme Court said today. Prosecutors have been notified as Shih is considered a flight risk. Shih was recruited by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intelligence officials after his retirement in 2008 and appointed as a supervisor
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