■ Cross-strait ties
DPP eyes next year for talks
Taiwan will do its utmost to resume talks with Beijing in the next year, a lawmaker from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday. Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), DPP caucus whip in the Legislative Yuan, said next year would be a favorable time for a resumption in talks between Taipei and Beijing, as there are no national elections scheduled in Taiwan and as December's legislative elections will usher in a new era in Taiwan, adding that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has continuously reached out to Beijing. He noted that Taiwan has already done its part to try to restart cross-strait dialogue, which he said would benefit the people of both sides of the Taiwan Strait, adding that the ball is now in Beijing's court. Tsai made the remarks in line with a statement by Chen the previous day that he has a free hand in terms of negotiating with Beijing as he does not face any pressure to be re-elected to a third term.
■ Government
KMT cash to buy text books
Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday that the assets "illegally" accumulated by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) during its five decades in power will be used to provide free text books for elementary and junior high school students once the assets are recovered by the current government. Stumping for Democratic Progressive Party legislative candidates in Panchiao, Taipei County, the premier said that the government is working to recover the assets and that the assets will be used toward helping cash-strapped central and local governments. The premier promised that elementary and junior high school students will get free textbooks for one year, providing his govern-ment can recover NT$3 billion (US$88.8 million) worth of KMT's "ill-gotten" assets, and free text books for one hundred years, if it can recover NT$300 billion (US$8.88 billion) worth of assets.
■ Health
Infant hearing tests offered
Children's Hearing Foundation, in cooperation with the Department of Health, is offering free hearing examinations for babies. The foundation pointed out that 2-month-old children can have their hearing ability tested. Parents who want to make inquiries can call toll-free line (08) 0088-9881. The foundation pointed out that Taiwan does not offered universal hearing examin-ation for newborns, and children with serious hearing problems were usually diagnosed at one-and-a-half years of age. The late diagnoses often resulted in the delayed development of children's hearing and speech ability.
■ Business
WTO seminars to be held
Starting this week, the government will hold a series of seminars to help local businesses gain a detailed understanding of the latest developments in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha Round Talks, according to a government official. The official from the Ministry of Economic Affairs said that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Bureau of Foreign Trade under the MOEA will jointly host the seminars across the country, beginning in Taipei tomorrow, followed by seminars in central Taichung and southern Kaohsiung through the middle of November. The aim of the seminars is to provide Taiwanese-based companies with the world's latest trade information and to help them grab business and investment opportunities after WTO member states reached agreement upon the so-called "July Package."
■ Trade
LatAm mission planned
The government is planning to organize a large-scale trade mission to visit Latin America early next year, Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said yesterday. Addressing the opening ceremony of the Latin Plaza-Expo 2004, an exhibition of handicrafts and products from Taiwan's diplomatic allies in Latin America, Lu said that the executive branch is making preparations for the mission. During the ceremony, Lu played the marimba together with Costa Rican Ambassador in Taipei Oscar Alvarez, symbolizing the close cooperation and friendship between Taiwan and Latin American nations. Lu is scheduled to visit Central America again next spring and to attend the Democratic Pacific Union's East Pacific regional forum to be held in Costa Rica. The exhibition, being held at the Taipei World Trade Center, will run through Oct. 27.
■ Nanotechnology
Symposium opens today
A Taiwan-France symposium on nanotechnology devices will open today at National Chiao Tung University in Hsinchu City, northern Taiwan, organizers said yesterday. The symposium is being jointly sponsored by the National Nano Device Laboratories, the National Applied Research Laboratories, the National Science Council, the Atomic Energy Commission of France, and the French Institute in Taipei. The purpose of the symposium is to provide an open forum for discussion on recent developments regarding nanotechnology devices, materials and processes, and to encourage more close cooperation between Taiwan and foreign countries, especially in the areas of advanced nanotechnologies and related applications.
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
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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