■ Diplomacy
Chen, visitors tour Taroko
Sunday's military salute to Guatemalan President Oscar Jose Rafael Berger Perdomo was followed by a tour to Taroko National Park in Hualien County yesterday. President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) led his Guatemalan counterpart and his wife on a visit to the famed gorge, where elders from the local Truku tribe presented traditional clothing and adornments to both men and later prayed for them. Berger said he admired the gorge area. Chen expressed concern over the state of the roads in the wake of two typhoons. Officials with the national park's administrative office said that workers were still moving boulders away from affected areas.
PHOTO: YOU TAI-LANG, TAIPEI TIMES
■ Diplomacy
Pact inked with Kiribati
The government signed an accord with the Republic of Kiribati yesterday to help with health affairs. Department of Health Minister Hou Sheng-mao (侯勝茂) and his Kiribatian counterpart, Natanaera Kirata, signed the accord on medical exchanges, health education and participation in international organizations. Kirata, who arrived in Taipei on Sunday, said that the public-health accord with Taiwan is the first of its kind that his country has signed. He added that he appreciates Taiwan's assistance in helping Kiribati improve its health care system. According to the World Health Organization, there are only three physicians and 24 nurses serving in Kiribati, an island nation with a population of about 90,000. Under the new accord, Taiwan will provide educational training programs and medical assistance. Taiwan and Kiribati forged diplomatic ties in 2003.
■ Defense
CGA probes allegations
Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Minister Shi Hwei-yow (許惠祐) yesterday sent officials to probe whether Chinese vessels have often intruded near waters off of Matsu or even landed on the island, and whether the CGA has been too lax in its management of the island. Shi's order followed a report by the Liberty Times, (the Taipei Times' sister newspaper) that some Taiwanese fishermen have complained that Chinese fishermen are not only fishing in Taiwan's waters but have also gone ashore. The fishermen said such activities have been going on for a long time but that the situation has worsened because of the CGA's lax management. They also complained that some Chinese fishing vessels caught by the CGA were released after bribing officials with high-quality fish.
■ Education
Dozen win new scholarship
Twelve students from the US have been selected to study language and culture in Taiwan for three months this year under the Taiwan-United States Sister Relations Alliance (TUSA) Language Enrichment Scholarship, Ministry of Education officials said yesterday. This is the first time that the ministry has cooperated with the TUSA -- an Arkansas-based non-governmental organization devoted to promoting friendship and understanding between the two nations. Applicants range in age from 17 to 37. TUSA board chairman Jimmie Lou Fisher said that the new scholarship is contributing to further enhancing bilateral ties between the US and Taiwan through cultural and educational efforts.
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