■ Government
Hsieh confirms new officials
Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) yesterday officially introduced incoming Environmental Protection Administration Minister Chang Kow-lung (張國龍) and Council of Hakka Affairs Chairman Lee Yung-te (李永得) to the public. In addition to these Cabinet members, the premier also confirmed that former Taichung City mayor Chang Wen-ying (張溫鷹), an independent, will be appointed vice interior minister, and that former Democratic Progressive Party legislator Chiu Yi-ying (邱議瑩) will be appointed vice minister of the Council of Hakka Affairs.
■ Diplomacy
Allies ask for financial help
The leaders of Tuvalu and Kiribati have asked Taiwan to help pay for the repatriation of workers stranded on Nauru, according to a report by ABC Radio Australia yesterday. The report said hundreds of workers in the phosphate industry from Tuvalu and Kiribati are stuck on Nauru, with some having not been paid for more than a year. The report continued to say Tuvalu's prime minister, Maatia Toafa, had said he has asked the president of Taiwan for US$3.5 million to cover the workers' unpaid wages and other expenses so they can return home.
■ Politics
Lien's wife off to Shanghai
Lien Fang Yu (連方瑀), the wife of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰), left Taipei for Shanghai via Hong Kong yesterday to attend the christening ceremony for a vessel. Accompanied by her two daughters, Lien Fang Yu kept a low profile at CKS International Airport. Her two sons joined them in Hong Kong. She has been invited to preside over the christening ceremony for the China Peace, which was commissioned by the Taipei-based Chinese Maritime Transport firm and built at a Shanghai shipyard.
■ Diplomacy
Dalai Lama aide in town
The younger brother of the Dalai Lama is making a low-profile visit to Taiwan, a cable television channel reported yesterday. Tendzin Choegyal, who at age four was recognized as the 15th Ngari Rinpoche, a title passed through reincarnation, is one of the top aides to Tibet's spiritual leader at the Tibetan Buddhism headquarters-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. The Ngari Rinpoche, who was elected to the Tibetan parliament-in-exile where he served until 1995, is in Taipei to attend a ceremony tomorrow at the the Central Police University for a bodyguard detail to the Dalai Lama. The Ngari Rinpoche has kept his visit low-profile and would not meet any officials during his stay, according to the TV report.
■ Diplomacy
Group lobbies for inclusion
A Taiwanese delegation lobbied yesterday for the nation to be included on the agenda at the inaugural East Asia Summit in December despite fears that China may try to block the move. The three-man delegation, headed by Fu-chen Lo (羅福全), chairman of the non-government Association of East Asian Relations in Taiwan, said during a stop in Manila that leaving Taiwan out of a proposed regional trade bloc would create a "missing link." The bloc would comprise the 10-member Association of Southeast Nations plus Japan, China, South Korea and India -- and possibly Australia and New Zealand. Lo said Taipei wants to create awareness among the region's major players that "Taiwan should be considered a very constructive partner."
EXPANSIONIST: China deploys an average of 40 to 50 warships and coast guard vessels daily in the South China Sea, despite pledges not to militarize the region, an official said China is attempting to expand its influence across the First Island Chain and increase pressure on Japan by sending coast guard vessels into waters off of Taiwan under the pretext of maritime negotiations with Japan and the Philippines, a national security official said yesterday. China’s recent actions in the waters east of Taiwan and Japan and the Philippines’ exclusive economic zones (EEZ) are attempts to establish dominance in First Island Chain waters, said the official who declined to be named, adding that this is “expansion disguised as law enforcement.” Framing China’s actions solely as a cross-strait issue is a serious misjudgment that
Through analyzing fossil evidence, a research team at National Taiwan University (NTU) discovered the largest endemic bird to have lived in Taiwan, naming it Pavo miejue, or extinct peafowl (滅絕孔雀). The Mikado pheasant, which is printed on the back of the NT$1,000 bank note, was previously believed to be the biggest endemic bird to Taiwan. The research team’s findings suggest that Pavo miejue lived during the Pleistocene epoch tens of thousands of years ago. It is the first endemic extinct bird species discovered and formally named in Taiwan. The study was coauthored by NTU Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修),
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is to suspend its automated Skytrain service connecting Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 starting on July 1 to facilitate connection works for the upcoming Terminal 3, the airport operator said today. Passengers and staff who need to travel between the two terminals after the suspension can instead use the Taoyuan MRT or the airport's 24-hour shuttle bus service, Taoyuan International Airport Corp said. The Taoyuan MRT Airport Line directly links the two terminals, while the shuttle buses are to operate around the clock, the company added. The Skytrain provides free transportation between the airport’s two terminals for travelers and
Taiwan ranked 42nd in terms of peacefulness among 163 countries, down five places from last year, according to this year’s Global Peace Index. With an overall score of 1.751, Taiwan dropped from 37th last year, the report published by the global Institute for Economics and Peace showed. The overall score measures a country’s level of peacefulness using 23 quantitative and qualitative indicators across three domains — ongoing domestic and international conflict, societal safety and security, and militarization. While Taiwan ranked 42nd worldwide, it was listed in ninth place among the 19 Asian-Pacific countries in the report, after New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia,
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