■ Foreign affairs
Legislators leave for India
A group of legislators left for India yesterday on a week-long visit to promote economic ties and to see if the labor-intensive country can replace China as a favorite investment location for Taiwanese businesspeople. "We hope to get a better understanding of the economic and political situations of India during our visit," group leader Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hou Shui-sheng (侯水盛) said before the group's departure. He said the primary aim of the trip is to promote Taiwan-Indian cooperation in various fields. The government hopes that India, with its cheap labor and high level of economic development, will attract Taiwanese investment away from China. The Taiwan-India Cooperation Council was established on Saturday, with DPP Chairman Yu Shyi-kun serving as council head.
■ Environment
Schools exposed to radiation
A total of 144 elementary and junior-high schools are exposed to dangerous electromagnetic fields, according to yesterday's Chinese-language the China Times. The paper quoted a survey conducted by a professor of public health at Fu Jen Catholic University, under the commission of the Ministry of Education, as warning that the health of more than 18,000 students could be threatened by the electromagnetic fields. Judged by the locations of the schools, the survey found that 95 elementary schools and 49 junior-high schools have part of their campus within 20m of high-voltage power lines or within a 50m radius of a substation.
■ Foreign Affairs
MOFA lauds US appointment
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday welcomed the US government's appointment of Stephen Young, a career diplomat with experience in Taiwan and China affairs, as its new representative in Taipei. Washington announced on Friday that Young, a former US ambassador to Kyrgyzstan and currently a member of the Policy Planning Staff under the State Department, will be the new director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Taipei Office. Young, who joined the US foreign service in 1980, is expected to arrive in Taipei next month to assume his post, replacing Douglas Paal, who returned to the US last month after completing a three-and-a-half-year term in Taiwan. Foreign Ministry officials said they believe that after Young assumes his Taipei post, he will fully reflect the Bush administration's policy toward Taiwan and will help bolster bilateral substantive relations between Taiwan and the US. AIT is the quasi-official US liaison office authorized to handle relations with Taiwan in the absence of formal diplomatic ties. Young lived in Kaohsiung between 1963 and 1965 as the child of a US military officer stationed there.
■ Health
Tipoff rewards boosted
The maximum reward for reporting smuggled animals or plants will be raised from NT$3.5 million (US$108,700) to NT$5 million in a bid to safeguard the nation against avian influenza, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine announced yesterday. Bureau officials said that in view of the spread of avian flu around the world, they have increased the rewards. Those who report smuggled animals or plants that are later found to be carriers of the H5N1 strain of bird flu virus, the foot-and-mouth disease virus or rabies will receive a reward worth 10 times the value of the smuggled animals or plants.
South Korean K-pop girl group Blackpink are to make Kaohsiung the first stop on their Asia tour when they perform at Kaohsiung National Stadium on Oct. 18 and 19, the event organizer said yesterday. The upcoming performances will also make Blackpink the first girl group ever to perform twice at the stadium. It will be the group’s third visit to Taiwan to stage a concert. The last time Blackpink held a concert in the city was in March 2023. Their first concert in Taiwan was on March 3, 2019, at NTSU Arena (Linkou Arena). The group’s 2022-2023 “Born Pink” tour set a
CPBL players, cheerleaders and officials pose at a news conference in Taipei yesterday announcing the upcoming All-Star Game. This year’s CPBL All-Star Weekend is to be held at the Taipei Dome on July 19 and 20.
The Taiwan High Court yesterday upheld a lower court’s decision that ruled in favor of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) regarding the legitimacy of her doctoral degree. The issue surrounding Tsai’s academic credentials was raised by former political talk show host Dennis Peng (彭文正) in a Facebook post in June 2019, when Tsai was seeking re-election. Peng has repeatedly accused Tsai of never completing her doctoral dissertation to get a doctoral degree in law from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 1984. He subsequently filed a declaratory action charging that
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
RSS