■ Politics
Wang to tender resignation
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who also doubles as a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice chairman, said yesterday that he will tender his resignation to KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) sometime today. Wang made the statement after meeting Lien, who returned to Taiwan earlier in the day to a warm greeting from party officials yesterday. Wang and KMT chairman-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) were among those who greeted Lien upon his arrival at CKS International Airport. The two shook hands without having further interaction. Lien, who had traveled to Washington to attend a meeting of the International Democrat Union, said that he was extremely proud of the election, and that he had called the two candidates afterward to congratulate one and give his regards to the other.
■ Politics
KMT lawmaker quits party
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chang Sho-wen (張碩文) of Yunlin County yesterday officially withdrew from the party, dropping the number of pan-blue lawmakers in the legislature's Procedure Committee down to 18 from 19. There are 16 pan-green lawmakers on the committee. The number of independent lawmakers will increase to two if Chang eventually decides to join the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union. Chang yesterday, however, said that he is not considering joining any party at the moment and needs some time to think about his future. Chang's departure was triggered by his displeasure over "defamatory" remarks made during the party's chairmanship election campaign by the supporters of KMT chairman-elect Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) about his father, Chang Hui-yuan (張輝元). Chang Hui-yuan supported Ma's election rival, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平). The Ma camp claimed that over 8,000 party members registered in the party's Yunlin chapter did not exist.
■ Society
Officials perform in English
In the hope that Taiwan can become a country free of communication barriers and synchronize with the pace of globalization, the Central Personnel Administration has been actively promoting the English ability of civil servants and urging institutes to create an English-friendly environment. "We expect that, by the end of 2007, over 50 percent of civil servants under the Executive Yuan, including 16,000 positions for which English is required, will have passed the elementary level of the General English Proficiency Test [GEPT], which means having basic ability in English and the ability to understand and use rudimentary language needed for daily office hours," said Chang Chun-yen (張俊彥), the chief of the agency.
■ Education
Cross-strait debate to begin
A three-day debating tournament between university students from both sides of the Taiwan Strait will begin on Sunday, with the participation of 12 teams, officials at the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. The event, to be held at the Chien Tan Overseas Youth Activity Center in Taipei, will be the largest exchange program between the youths of Taiwan and China to date, the officials noted. It is sponsored by the Chinese Development Fund, a non-profit organization created by the MAC to promote cross-strait civilian exchanges. Noting that this will be the first time such an event will take place in Taiwan, the MAC officials said they hope the exchanges between the youths of Taiwan and China will be strengthened through this event.
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
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
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