Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) may not return from his historic trip to China with a solution to all cross-strait disputes -- but he could have Taiwan's first giant panda in tow, a local Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday.
The paper said yesterday -- without mentioning a source -- that Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Lien and Hu are expected to meet in Beijing this week -- the first high-level contact between leaders of the two sides in more than five decades.
While not confirming the report, Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
Training
"Our animal specialists have had contacts with their mainland counterparts recently and have received a degree of training," Ma said.
The specialists will be ready to handle the job after given a further few months of intensive training, Ma said.
Ma said bamboo grown in Zhuzihu on Yangmingshan will supply food for the pandas, although more will have to be planted to meet the demand.
Imperiled species
However, as the panda is one of the imperiled species protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), it still requires the approval of the agricultural authorities of both sides before it can be exported from China to Taiwan, Ma noted.
A zoo enclosure could be completed before year's end and staff training could be wrapped up within months -- at a cost of about NT$50 million (US$1.58 million).
Pandas are among the world's rarest animals. About 1,600 giant pandas survive in the wild, mostly in the mountains in southwestern China. Some 160 live in captivity.
Donating the rare animals to prominent world leaders is a tradition that goes back at least to 1972, when then US president Richard Nixon made a historic visit to China.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS