■ Politics
Ker touted as candidate
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus whip Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) said party heavyweight Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) has decided to run for the speakership of the Legislative Yuan, the Central News Agency reported last night. The agency quoted Tai as saying that Ker has been working to gain support from DPP comrades for the bid. Following the failure of the DPP to form an alliance with the People First Party for a joint ticket for the speakership, DPP Secretary-General Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄), the party's designated candidate, pulled out of the race on Monday. Meanwhile, DPP Legislator Trong Tsai (蔡同榮) has shown an interest in running for the post as well.
■ Education
Classrooms full of hazards
Nearly 350,000 junior-high school and elementary school students attend classes in dangerous classrooms, Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) Legislator Cheng Cheng-lung (程振隆) said yesterday. Cheng said an investigation of the age and maintenance of classrooms at junior-high schools and elementary schools in 25 cities and counties found that a total of 6,322 classrooms in 20 of the areas pose safety hazards but are still in use. He estimated that there are a total of about 8,720 such classrooms in the 25 cities and counties. Based on the figure of an average of 40 students per class, Cheng calculated that about 348,970 students attend classes in a "dangerous" classroom. The study found Taichung County has the largest number of dangerous classrooms, at 917, followed by Tainan County at 862, and Pingtung County at 770.
■ Disaster Aid
Aid tops NT$360 million
World Vision Taiwan said yesterday that it had received NT$363,716,538 in donations for the tsunami disaster relief fund. As relief efforts are continuing, the organization will designate community and social reconstruction projects as the next priority. According to World Vision Taiwan director Hank Du (杜明翰), the group plans to rebuild schools, houses and set up childcare centers in India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
■ Society
No parole for dirty official
The Ministry of Justice yesterday rejected former DPP legislator David Chou's (周伯倫) application for parole. According to the Department of Corrections (矯正司), Chou filed his application last month. The department decided to decline his request, because Chou "needs more rehabilitation." Department Director Huang Cheng-nan (黃徵男) said prison records showed that Chou has broken many rules, including hiding NT$50,000 in cash in his cell and smoking and eating betel-nuts at unauthorized times, since he began his jail term at the Hualien Prison. Chou reported to Hualien Prison on Feb. 17, 2003. He is serving a six-year sentence for his involvement in the Ronghsing Park development scandal.
■ Relief Work
Buddhists head to Sri Lanka
The sixth relief mission from the Buddhist Compassionate Relief Tzu Chi Foundation to Sri Lanka following the Dec. 26 tsunami tragedy has left North America to continue aid efforts there. A total of 40 volunteers from Canada and the US are expected to reach Colombo today, mainly to provide medical care. The volunteers are expected to stay there until Feb. 5. Tzu Chi has been in Hambantota, one of the hardest-hit areas, since Dec. 31. Taiwanese medical volunteers with the group have treated an average of 700 people per day in the city over the past 55 days.
■ Labor
Chemicals get new labels
In an effort to protect the safety of foreign nationals in Taiwan, the Environmen-tal Protection Administra-tion (EPA) has enacted a new regulation requiring that all toxic material containers carry labels in both English and Chinese. EPA officials said the new regulation will require bilingual labels on all containers for toxic chemicals, agents and substances. The EPA began monitoring implementation of the new regulation nationwide yesterday, the officials said. Meanwhile, the EPA has made available on its official Web site (www.epa.gov.tw) the Chinese and English names of 252 kinds of toxic chemicals to help facilitate the toxicity control efforts by the private business and industrial sectors.
■ Society
Writer to receive doctorate
National Taiwan University president Chen Wei-chao (陳維昭) has flown to Paris to confer an honorary doctorate on Kao Xingjian (高行健), winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in literature, an university spokesman said yesterday. Chen headed for Paris in the company of Peng Ching-hsi (彭鏡禧), dean of the College of Literature, the spokesman said. The university announced its decision last November to confer the honorary academic degree on Kao as part of its 76th anniversary celebrations. Kao did not travel to Taipei to receive the honor at the university's Nov. 15 celebration ceremony because of poor health, but he addressed the event via a 10-minute video in which he expressed his gratitude for the recognition of his literary career. The spokesman said Chen will take advantage of his Paris trip to discuss technical details regarding Kao's previous promise to give lectures at the university if his health improves.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
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