■ Society
Leaders bid farewell to Sun
The funeral of former premier Sun Yun-suan (孫運璿) yesterday saw the attendance of most of the country's political leaders, including President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), as well as the heads of opposition parties. Former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰) officiated at the memorial ceremony, which was held at the Chieshou chapel at Veterans General Hospital in Taipei. Three former premiers -- Lee Huan (李煥), Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) and Vincent Siew (蕭萬長) draped the national flag on Sun's coffin. Sun, known as the major architect of Taiwan's economic and industrial development in the 1980s, died on Feb. 15 at the age of 93. He served as premier from 1978 to 1984. KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), along with his two deputies Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) and Helen Lin (林澄枝), also draped the KMT party flag over Sun's coffin during the ceremony. Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and his deputy Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) attended the ceremony.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
■ Health
Chickens to be cooped up
County and city governments nationwide are expected to promulgate a set of new rules aimed at preventing bird flu by March 15, which include requiring poultry farmers to raise chickens indoors between September and April, Council of Agriculture officials said yesterday. The officials said that the September-April period is the season when migratory birds are on the move and that keeping chickens outside will increase the chances of poultry coming into contact with the wild birds -- potential carriers of the bird flu virus.
■ Agriculture
Shots for hogs to stop
The Council of Agriculture (COA) said it will stop vaccinating hogs on the outlying island of Penghu against foot-and-mouth disease on a trial basis from March 1. If all goes well, shots for hogs on Taiwan proper will be stopped from June, COA officials said. If no fresh cases of the disease are reported after one year of stopping vaccinations, Taiwan will apply to the France-based animal health organization Office Internationale Des Epizooties (OIE) to reinstate Taiwan as a foot-and-mouth disease free country. A major epidemic in March 1997 prompted the government to order a mass slaughter of livestock. In 1999, cattle on the outlying island of Kinmen were found to be infected. No new cases have been reported since February 2001.
■ Charity
Tzu Chi helps Leyte victims
A group of volunteers from the Buddhist Compassionate Relief Tzu Chi Foundation arrived yesterday in a disaster-hit area in the south of the Philippine island of Leyte with sufficient relief supplements for the needs of some 500 people, according to the Tzu Chi branch in the Philippine city of Cebu. Rescue efforts restarted on Friday after heavy rain interrupted the work that began after a devastating landslide buried the village of Guinsaugon. So far, Philippine soldiers and rescue personnel from other countries, including the US, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan, have dug out 130 bodies, but there are still over 900 people missing, all of whom are feared dead, the group said.
‘ANGRY’: Forgetting the humiliations and sacrifices of ‘the people of the Republic of China’ experienced disqualified Lai from being president, Ma Ying-jeou said Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday criticized President William Lai (賴清德) over what he called “phrasing that downplayed Japan’s atrocities” against China during World War II. Ma made the remarks in a post on Facebook on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. Ma said he was “angry and disappointed” that Lai described the anniversary as the end of World War II instead of a “victory in the war of resistance” — a reference to the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). The eight-year war was a part of World War II, in which Japan and the other Axis
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced a ban on all current and former government officials from traveling to China to attend a military parade on Sept. 3, which Beijing is to hold to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War. "This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II and the Republic of China’s victory in the War of Resistance [Against Japan]," MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a regular news briefing in Taipei. To prevent Beijing from using the Sept. 3 military parade and related events for "united
‘OFFSHORE OPERATIONS’: Also in Dallas, Texas, the Ministry of Economic Affairs inaugurated its third Taiwan Trade and Investment Center to foster closer cooperation The 2025 Taiwan Expo USA opened on Thursday in Dallas, Texas, featuring 150 Taiwanese companies showcasing their latest technologies in the fields of drones, smart manufacturing and healthcare. The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the event’s organizer, said the exhibitors this year include Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (Foxconn), the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer; AUO; PC brand Asustek Computer; and drone maker Thunder Tiger. In his opening speech, TAITRA chairman James Huang (黃志芳) said he expected Texas to become a world-class center for innovation and manufacturing as US technology companies from Silicon Valley and Taiwanese manufacturers form an industrial cluster
A 20-year-old man yesterday evening was electrocuted and fell to his death after he climbed a seven-story-high electricity tower to photograph the sunset, causing a wildfire on Datong Mountain (大同山) in New Taipei City’s Shulin District (樹林), the Taoyuan Police Department said today. The man, surnamed Hsieh (謝), was accompanied on an evening walk by a 20-year-old woman surnamed Shang (尚) who remained on the ground and witnessed the incident, capturing a final photograph of her friend sitting atop the tower before his death, an initial investigation showed. Shang then sought higher ground to call for help, police said. The New Taipei
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