■ FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Talk to China later: Hsieh
Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday that consultations on cross-strait charter cargo and passenger flights as well as on a full opening of Taiwan to Chinese tourists are more likely to see a breakthrough after the Dec. 3 elections. Hsieh noted the government has, since June, consulted with China on cross-strait charter cargo and passenger flights as well as a full opening of Taiwan to Chinese tourists, and that bilateral exchanges have been good. However, since the nation will hold "three-in-one" elections for city and county chiefs, city and county councilors and village and township chiefs next Saturday, Beijing may have reservations before then, the premier said. He said that headway in the consultations is more likely to be made after the elections are held, adding that he couldn't predict which of the issues would see a breakthrough first.
■ SPORTS
Panel eyes Taipei for games
A World University Games (Universiade) selection panel will launch a fact-finding mission today in Taipei to gain a better understanding of whether the city is capable of hosting the games in 2011, a Taipei City Government spokesman said yesterday. The Taipei City Government will do its best in the coming years to build the facilities needed to host the games, the spokesman said, adding that the city stands a good chance of winning the right to host the games thanks to its rich personnel resources, convenient transportation and communications networks and diverse cultures. The spokesman cited a recent Global Views Monthly survey as proof of the city's ability to host the Universiade, touting Taipei as the most suitable among all the major cities in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Macau to serve that end.
■ SOCIETY
New park inaugurated
After two years of preparations, the Siraya National Park Administration was formally inaugurated yesterday, with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) unveiling a name plate for the new organization. Speaking at the ceremony, Chen voiced the hope that the opening of Taiwan's 13th national park, which takes up an area of more than 90,000 hectares, will help achieve the goal of attracting 5 million overseas tourists in 2008, as set forth in a government plan to double the number of foreign arrivals by that year. Chen said the scenic spot was named after the Aboriginal Siraya tribe, to show the government's determination to protect the unique culture of the indigenous people living in Tainan County.
■ HEALTH
Hsieh vows to protect public
The government's decision to mass-produce the influenza drug Tamiflu locally is aimed at protecting public health in the case of an avian flu pandemic, Premier Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) said yesterday. "Only by producing the drug ourselves to increase the stockpile will the health of the people be protected," Hsieh said. Taiwan's Intellectual Property Office on Friday approved a Department of Health request to mass-produce Tamiflu. However, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche -- the manufacturer of the drug -- has dismissed the move by Taiwan as "unnecessary." The company confirmed it will supply Taiwan with an additional 1.3 million doses of Tamiflu next year, bringing the total stockpile of Tamiflu for pandemic use to 2.3 million doses, or enough to treat roughly 10 percent of the population.
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