■ Society
Chen greets delegates
Taiwan has ensured the rights of children and adolescents by ensconcing them in new laws, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said yesterday as he received 90 children from 18 countries taking part in a summit promoting children's human rights. Chen praised the summit's theme, "Children help Children," saying the spirit is similar to his belief that stressing human rights is one of the foundations of Taiwan. Chen said Taiwan passed the Child and Juvenile Welfare Law (兒童及少年福利法) in May 2003. "The new law stipulates that any child or adolescent is eligible for the rights, rather than just being an individual subject to protection. The change demonstrates that the rights of children and adolescents have gradually become valued in Taiwan," Chen said.
■ Society
MOI sets citizenship test
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) yesterday unveiled the criteria to measure the language ability and civics knowledge of foreigners seeking citizenship. Applicants will be able to either present documents proving their qualifications or take tests to be held every January, April, July and November, starting next year. The documents submitted by the applicants should prove that they have studied in a school in Taiwan for at least one year or have taken a course provided by the government for naturalization applicants, the officials said. Foreigners who do not want to take the course can take a written test or an oral test in Mandarin, Taiwanese, Hakka or Aboriginal languages. Applicants will need to answer 20 test questions selected from a database of 200 questions. Applicants aged 65 or over will need to get at least 50 percent on the test, while spouses and foster children of citizens have to get at least 60 percent and other foreigners have to get 70 percent. Sample questions include: What kind of taxes are collected by the local government? What is the minimum age to raise a pet?
■ Education
Fewer students drop out
A total of 8,168 middle and elementary school students quit school in the last academic year, a decrease of 437 people compared with the previous year, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics reported yesterday. The report, based on statistics from the Ministry of Education, said the main reason for dropping out was dislike of studying in school, with 39.6 percent of dropouts quitting school because of "personal preference." Some 30.3 percent of the dropouts were forced to leave school due to family problems, the agency said. In terms of family background, 46.5 percent of the dropouts were from single-parent families, while 2.3 percent dropped out after suffering the loss of their parents.
■ Education
Nursing school inks pact
The National Taipei College of Nursing (NTCN) signed a deal yesterday with the International Cooperation and Development Fund to assist in training volunteer caretakers assigned to work in foreign countries. A two-day conference organized by the two institutions also began yesterday, with talks on health-care policy, care of cancer patients, preventive medicine, international relief efforts and midwife training. Participants included officials and academics from Kiribati, Malawi, Swaziland and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, college officials said. They hope the conference will encourage more Taiwanese health-care institutions and professionals to join in international health-care systems.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost