■ Crime
Violent crime drops
An average of 2.4 violent crimes per 100,000 people were committed in Taipei last month, the lowest violent crime rate in the nation, according to a report from Taipei City police. The capital's rate showed a decline of 20 cases, or 23.8 percent, last month from the level one year ago, according to the report. Five juveniles were arrested last month in Taipei for drug-related offenses, while nine people were arrested for copyright violation. Compared with the same time last year, the number of teenage offenders grew. Police said most teenagers commit crimes due to ignorance of the law, so it is necessary to give extra lectures on the law in schools, while organizing "proper and healthy" entertainment alternatives for young people.
■ Agriculture
Tainted rice to be destroyed
Council of Agriculture officials said on the weekend that crops grown on a zinc-contaminated plot in Chiayi County will be destroyed soon and consumers need not fear that the rice they buy could be contaminated. After testing a soil sample from the plot in Shuishang Township (水上), Environment Protection Administration (EPA) officials confirmed that it contained 900mg of zinc, much higher than the legal maximum of 600mg. However, they also said that only half of the 0.4-hectare paddy was polluted and that they had already ordered the farmer to cease cultivation. The existing crop would be destroyed in the near future, they added.
■ Art
NSO announces collaboration
The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) announced yesterday that it will be collaborating with Lorin Maazel, a French-born US-based orchestra conductor, in a series of performances to be held next month, including two concerts in Taipei and Hsinchu. Scheduled to arrive in Taiwan on March 15, Maazel will give a master class on March 16 at the National Concert Hall in Taipei. On March 17, his rehearsal with the NSO will be open to the public. NSO Music Director Chien Wen-pin (簡文彬) said: "The NSO chose Maazel for a collaboration because he is well-known for being able to tap into an orchestra's potential. The maestro is sure to take the NSO to a higher level, and the classical music world will be able to see what the NSO is all about. The Taiwanese audience will also have the opportunity to see another side of the NSO they've never seen before, once it `melds' with maestro Maazel."
■ Politics
KMT sued over 228 Incident
The Northern Taiwan Society is to take legal action against the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), seeking compensation of NT$6 billion (US$185 million) for the 228 Incident of 1947. The society said it was taking the civil action against the KMT for its involvement in the incident and to use the compensation to build a national human rights museum. The Northern Taiwan Society also demanded that the KMT offer an apology in local newspapers and hand over to the Academia Historica all relevant archives held by the KMT. The society urged the Democratic Progressive Party and other parties to push for legislation on the incident. Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深), the society's deputy chairman, said the KMT should take responsibility for its role in the tragedy, adding that it was not enough for the KMT simply to make "perfunctory gestures" such as making documentary films or organizing memorial services.
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