■ Religion
Zen summer camp opens
Sixty college students from nine countries, including students from Harvard and Yale universities, started a one-month Zen Buddhism camp yesterday at Foguangshan in Kaohsiung County. Master Tzu Jung (慈容), secretary-general of the Taiwan-based Buddha's Light International Association, welcomed the students, saying that preaching peace is borderless and that getting to know a religion is a way of knowing oneself. She noted that Master Hsin Yun (星雲), founder of Foguangshan, wrote in his book Tsai Geng Tan that "to know thyself comes from self-reflection." But she pointed out that it was often difficult to review and reflect in modern life and that people often say or do something wrong without even realizing it.
■ Finance
Firm could attract capital
The government hopes
that the Shenzhen-based Taiwanese company DXG Technology will be listed on Taiwan's stock exchange, an official at the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday. DXG Technology, a maker of dual-mode camera and video drivers, is scheduled to hold its initial public offering next week. The company has yet to decide whether it will list on Taiwan's stock exchange or
in China. Recent newspaper reports have said DXG may be the first local company to shift investment capital in China back to Taiwan.
■ Cross-Strait Ties
MAC plugs peace framework
Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) issued a call for a peace framework to settle political disputes between Taiwan and China in a keynote article published in the latest edition of the Far Eastern Economic Review. Wu proposed that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait first set up a framework
to maintain peace and the status quo until they find a solution to end their long-term political problems. They should engage
in conciliation and cooperation rather
than confrontation and embarrassment, Wu said, adding that Taiwan is fully poised to work toward that end. He suggested that the peace framework could appear in the form of a joint declaration in which the establishment of negotiation mechanisms and military trust could be touched upon.
■ Diplomacy
New envoy meets Chen
New Malawi Ambassador Thengo Maloya presented his credentials to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday. Maloya presented the credentials in a ceremony held at the Presidential Office. Secretary-General
of the Presidential Office Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Kau (高英茂) and other Presidential Office officials were on hand to witness the ceremony. Chen welcomed Maloya to his
new post, lauding him as an outstanding statesman who served as a parliamentarian for 36 years and in various posts in the Cabinet. Maloya's appointment demonstrates the solid relations between the two countries, he said. Chen also expressed his appreciation to Malawi for speaking up for Taiwan's bids to join the
UN and other international organizations. He also
asked Maloya to convey his congratulations to President Bingu Wa Mutharika on
his election victory, and to thank former president Bakili Muluzi for his longstanding friendship and support for Taiwan. Chen also thanked former ambassador Eunice Kazembe for the contribution she made in promoting bilateral relations and congratulated her on her new Cabinet post.
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