■ Culture
Delegation at Paris show
A Taiwanese delegation, composed of 26 food companies and agricultural associations, is participating in the Salon International de I'Alimentation (SIAL 2004) in Paris, officials of Taiwan's Trade Center in Paris said yesterday. The SIAL 2004, one of the largest interna-tional food shows in the world, began Sunday and will run until Oct. 21, attracting more than 5,200 food-related companies from 98 countries. In addition to presenting their best food products at the exhibition, the Taiwanese enterprises will also hold sampling activities to introduce Taiwan's fruits and tea products. The officials noted that Taiwan agricultural products can tap the Euro-pean market through the food show in France, a major trade center in the EU.
■ Sports
Russian wins marathon
Azat Rakipov from Russia won the men's 42km marathon in Taiwan yester-day, collecting the top prize of US$25,000 (NT$850,000). Starting at a downtown park and weaving through Taipei's streets, Rakipov finished with a time of 2:23:40. Trailing behind was Kenya's Otavio dos Santos Pinheire who finished at 2:24:12. In the women's 42km marathon, Wu Xiuying from Mongolia, China, grabbed first place with a time of 2:39:35, claiming US$15,000 (NT$510,000). Wu collapsed from exhaustion after crossing the finish line. Organizers said she was rushed to the hospital, where she remained in stable condition. Second place went to Tanzania's Fabiola William who finished at 2:41:53. More than 30,000 people participated in the marathon organized by Taiwan's China Motors.
■ Society
Rotary honors 175 people
Rotary International District 3480 bestowed citations to individuals around Taiwan yesterday to celebrate in advance the 100th anniversary of Rotary International, which will fall on Feb. 1 next year. At the ceremony, held jointly by Rotary International District 3480 and 48 other Rotary Clubs in the greater Taipei area, 175 people coming from many different walks of life, including volunteers, teachers, environmentalists, firemen, public servants and journalists received citations. It was the first time that journalists were given the honor by the Rotary Clubs in Taiwan, and among them were Central News Agency President Hu Yuan-hui and Apple Daily Taiwan President James Tu. Vice Minister of the Interior Lee Chin-yung, Vice Minister of Education Fan Sun-lu and Taipei City Deputy Mayor King Pu-tsung (金溥聰) attended the ceremony, hailing the citation recipients for contributing significantly to society.
■ Education
MOE says English important
Education Minister Tu Cheng-sheng (杜正勝) said yesterday that Taiwan's development will be limited if people in the country do not strengthen their English ability. Tu made the remarks at a seminar held in Taipei on ethnic groups and cultural development. As the "new Taiwan citizen movement" is one of the issues being discussed at the seminar, some participants maintained that mother languages of each ethnic group should be given priority over English. They suggested that the govern-ment should not promote English education too early for kids. Concerning such suggestions, Tu stressed that English is the channel to the world community, and the essence of Taiwan culture cannot be accepted and understood by the world without it.
■ Politics
Lu warns about China
China's threat against Taiwan is growing with around 800 ballistic missiles estimated to be targeting the nation by next year, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday. Addressing a rally of the Democratic Progressive Party's women members in Taoyuan, Lu said that China already has 610 missiles ready to strike Taiwan. And according to national security agencies, more than 3,000 Chinese visitors have disappeared after arriving in Taiwan, posing another threat to security, she said. Lu called on the public to stay alert for any possible trouble by mysterious visitors from China. She also urged the public to support the party in the year-end legislative elections to allow it to hold a majority in the legislature and thus increase the government's efficiency.
■ Business
Women recognized
The Global Federation of Chinese Business Women (GFCBW) bestowed awards yesterday to 10 excellent Chinese business women chosen from around the world. Vice President Lu was among the guests to offer the awards to the winners, who were chosen from 27 countries. A GFCBW executive noted that more and more women should share the economic pressure in the families with their husbands, and thus pushing them to excel in the workplace. More and more Chinese women have performed well in various sectors, such as trade, media, education, law, medicine, government and charity, she said. The organization now has 32 branches around the world and has been dedicated during the years to charitable activities and economic and trade information exchanges throughout the world.
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