■ Society
Prisons to get LCD TVs
The government plans to install flat screen television sets in more than 10,000 prison cells -- but only educational programs will be aired, a Ministry of Justice official said yesterday. The NT$100 million (US$2.96 million) project is aimed at broadening inmates' knowledge and will also cut back on the millions of dollars they spend annually on batteries for their own portable sets, the official said. The project will be financed by a NT$3.4 billion fund accumulated through factory work by inmates, he said. Officials said the more expensive flat screen liquid crystal panels had been chosen because the glass screens of conventional sets were easy to break and could be used by prisoners to hurt themselves. They said the project would also help the environment by cutting down on battery use. The country's 57,000 prisoners spend some NT$70 million a year on batteries, the official said.
■ Aquaculture
Regional seminar held
An international seminar on aquaculture began in Taipei on Monday, with representatives from 10 Asia-Pacific countries discussing possible means for achieving sustainable aquaculture development. The five-day seminar was organized jointly by the Council of Agriculture (COA) and the Asian Productivity Organization. Quoting statistics compiled by the US Food and Agriculture Organization, COA officials noted that Asia's aquaculture industry has enjoyed brilliant growth in the past, with its production in 2001 accounting for 90.8 percent of the global figure. However, the industry was seriously affected by some problems in recent years, such as environmental pollution, the officials said. The seminar will help countries in the Asia-Pacific to exchange their experience with aquaculture, the officials said.
■ Education
Fewer students going abroad
The number of Taiwanese studying overseas dropped by 22.1 percent last year compared with the previous year, the Directorate Generate of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said on Monday. The DGBAS made the calculation based on the 26,318 visas issued by foreign missions in Taiwan for students wishing to study abroad last year. The US was the most popular destination with 10,324 visas, followed by 6,662 to the UK and 2,823 to Australia. The three countries attracted about 75 percent of Taiwanese students. The number of Taiwanese students going to France and Germany rose by 18.5 percent and 10.5 percent, respectively. The statistics also showed that there were 7,844 foreign students in Taiwan last year, of which 1,568 were studying for degrees and 6,276 were studying Mandarin, up 22.2 percent and 3.8 percent, respectively.
■ Infrastructure
Formosa Freeway pondered
The nation's second north-south freeway in western Taiwan, the No. 3 freeway, may be named the Formosa Freeway, pending the Executive Yuan's final decision tomorrow. After three months' competition and review, a panel of judges picked three names for the consideration of Premier Yu Shyi-kun. They are, in order of the number of votes received: Formosa, Jade Mountain and Hope. The NT$458 billion (US$13.47 billion) freeway is 432km long and connects Keelung to Linpian in the south. There are 68 interchanges and 11 toll stations along the freeway. The nation's other two traffic arteries are the No. 1 freeway, better known as the Chungshan Freeway, and the Western Coastal Expressway.
■ Tourism
Hualien-Macau flights start
TransAsia Airways made its maiden charter flight from Hualien to Macau yesterday as part of an effort to help boost the local tourist industry. Among the passengers were Hualien County Commissioner Hsieh Shen-shan (謝深山) and several other county officials. Hsieh said he was heading a team of officials and business executives to attract Macanese investors and holidaymakers to Hualien. "We hope the visit can not only help us realize the goal of doubling tourist arrivals but also attract Macau businesses to invest in Hualien County to accelerate our economic development and create more jobs," Hsieh said, adding that the county government is determined to make Hualien one of the most popular recreational resorts in the West Pacific. TransAsia will operate a total of three round-trip Hualien-Macau charter flights.
■ Crime
Chopper thieves nabbed
Seven Taiwanese citizens arrested for stealing a Harley-Davidson in Tokyo are believed to be behind a series of thefts of big US motorcycles which are dismantled and sent abroad, Japanese police and press reports said yesterday. Lee Chih-hsiang, 28, and six accomplices were arrested on Sunday for stealing a 1,450cc Harley-Davidson from a street in downtown Tokyo and hiding it in a suburban workshop, police said. Police have since tracked down the group to their hideout in Kumagaya, north of Tokyo, a police official said. The Yomiuri Shimbum said police suspect the group was largely responsible for the disappearance of more than 100 Harley-Davidsons this year in Tokyo. The group was believed to have dismantled stolen bikes and shipped them to Taiwan.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard