■ Diplomacy
Downer's comment `unwise'
Australia's opposition Labor Party said yesterday that Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer was unwise to break the country's silence on what it would do in the event of a military crisis in the Taiwan Strait. Speaking in Beijing, Downer indicated that the US should not automatically expect
it would have Australian support if China launched
an attack against Taiwan. A
53-year-old military alliance between Australia and the US would be invoked only in the event of an attack on either country "so some other activity somewhere else in the world ... doesn't invoke" the pact, Downer said at a press conference after talks with Chinese officials. Labor foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd said Downer's comment was unhelpful
and broke a long-standing protocol that Canberra
did not comment on hypotheticals concerning
the Taiwan Strait.
■ Tourism
Chinese vistors to missing
A group of 13 Chinese tourists went missing yesterday after arriving in Taiwan late Tuesday night, marking the second major disappearance of Chinese tourists in less than a month, the Mainland Affairs Council confirmed yesterday. According to the council, a total of 17 Chinese tourists arrived in Taiwan late Tuesday night and were escorted by the police to check in at a hotel in Taoyuan County. However, 13 member of the tour group failed to report to their tour guide yesterday morning. The remaining four tourists are now under the custody of the related authorities. The disappearance of the Chinese tourists, which coincided with the annual Hankuang military exercises, was the second time that Chinese tourists have been missing in Taiwan following the disappearance of 17 Chinese tourists in July 20 last month.
■ Welfare
Disability officials arrive
Two executives from a regional forum investigating circumstances facing the developmentally disabled will arrive in Taiwan tonight to assess the situation facing local disabled people, the Eden Social Welfare Foundation said yesterday. Asia Pacific Disability Forum secretary-general Ryosuke Matsui and information committee head Joseph Kwok (郭鍵勳) will also inspect the foundation's operations. The foundation failed in its bid to host the forum's bi-annual conference next year, a failure due to the nation's diplomatic difficulties, the foundation said. However, since Taiwan was a leader in disabled facilities and rights awareness within the region, the forum's executive committee had decided to learn more about the local situation, the foundation said. During their three day trip, Matsui and Kwok will also inspect accessibility for disabled people in tourist facilities.
■ Society
Pregnancy drive approved
The Cabinet yesterday approved a NT$84 million package over the next
three years to promote
earlier marriage and more pregnancies. It hopes to
stop the sliding birth rate by encouraging women to get married before age 30 and conceive before age 35. The average age for women to get married was 23.8 in 1980, but that figure has jumped to the high 20s in recent years. The Cabinet hopes to see
the percentage of married women aged between 22
and 39 wanting one child decrease from 20 percent this year to 15 percent in 2007, and those wanting
two children increase from
60 percent this year to 65 percent in 2007.
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
GIVE AND TAKE: Blood demand continues to rise each year, while fewer young donors are available due to the nation’s falling birthrate, a doctor said Blood donors can redeem points earned from donations to obtain limited edition Formosan black bear travel mugs, the Kaohsiung Blood Center said yesterday, as it announced a goal of stocking 20,000 units of blood prior to the Lunar New Year. The last month of the lunar year is National Blood Donation Month, when local centers seek to stockpile blood for use during the Lunar New Year holiday. The blood demand in southern Taiwan — including Tainan and Kaohsiung, as well as Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Taitung counties — is about 2,000 units per day, the center said. The donation campaign aims to boost
ENHANCING EFFICIENCY: The apron can accommodate 16 airplanes overnight at Taoyuan airport while work on the third runway continues, the transport minister said A new temporary overnight parking apron at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to start operating on Friday next week to boost operational efficiency while the third runway is being constructed, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The apron — one of the crucial projects in the construction of the third runway — can accommodate 16 aircraft overnight at the nation’s largest international airport, Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told reporters while inspecting the new facility yesterday morning. Aside from providing the airport operator with greater flexibility in aircraft parking during the third runway construction,
American climber Alex Honnold is to attempt a free climb of Taipei 101 today at 9am, with traffic closures around the skyscraper. To accommodate the climb attempt and filming, the Taipei Department of Transportation said traffic controls would be enforced around the Taipei 101 area. If weather conditions delay the climb, the restrictions would be pushed back to tomorrow. Traffic controls would be in place today from 7am to 11am around the Taipei 101 area, the department said. Songzhi Road would be fully closed in both directions between Songlian Road and Xinyi Road Sec 5, it said, adding that bidirectional traffic controls would
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