The nation's Republican (or minguo, 民國) calendar will not be abandoned in favor of the Gregorian calendar unless the majority of the public agrees to the plan, the Cabinet said yesterday.
"This does not concern politics. It is only a proposal to help us and our country communicate with foreign friends more easily," Government Information Office Minister and Cabinet Spokesman Cheng Wen-tsang (
Reports
Cheng made the remarks yesterday morning in response to a story in the Chinese-language daily the United Daily News, which reported that the Cabinet had given official notice to the Ministry of the Interior asking it to begin evaluating the proposal to change the calendar system.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet's Research, Development and Evaluation Commission said there would be no difficulty in carrying out such a policy, but that political issues could get in the way that might be difficult for the government to overcome.
Dismissal
"We have yet issued any notice to the ministry. In addition, it is not the ministry's job to evaluate the proposal. It is the commission's, actually," Cheng said. "The commission has completed its report and submitted it to the Cabinet. The premier asked that for a slowdown, review and re-consideration of the entire proposal because it also concerns a lot of changes on related mechanisms. If we want to do it, we will have to do it gradually."
The idea to change the calendar system was first put forward by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin Tai-hua (
Su expressed support for the change.
Majority rules
Speaking on behalf of the premier, Cheng said that more time and money -- as well as the support of the majority of Taiwan's citizens -- would be required before the Cabinet changes the calendar system.
"We will handle this case carefully and gradually," Cheng added.
The Grand Hotel Taipei on Saturday confirmed that its information system had been illegally accessed and expressed its deepest apologies for the concern it has caused its customers, adding that the issue is being investigated by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. The hotel said that on Tuesday last week, it had discovered an external illegal intrusion into its information system. An initial digital forensic investigation confirmed that parts of the system had been accessed, it said, adding that the possibility that some customer data were stolen and leaked could not be ruled out. The actual scope and content of the affected data
DO THEY BITE IT? Cats have better memories than people might think, but their motivation is based entirely around the chance of getting fed Cats can remember the identity of the people who fed them the day before, Taipei-based veterinarians said on Friday, debunking a popular myth that cats have a short memory. If a stray does not recognize the person who fed them the previous day, it is likely because they are not carrying food and the cat has no reason to recognize them, said Wu Chou Animal Hospital head Chen Chen-huan (陳震寰). “When cats come to a human bearing food, it is coming for the food, not the person,” he said. “The food is the key.” Since the cat’s attention is on the food, it
‘LIKE-MINDED PARTNER’: Tako van Popta said it would be inappropriate to delay signing the deal with Taiwan because of China, adding he would promote the issue Canadian senators have stressed Taiwan’s importance for international trade and expressed enthusiasm for ensuring the Taiwan-Canada trade cooperation framework agreement is implemented this year. Representative to Canada Harry Tseng (曾厚仁) in an interview with the Central News Agency (CNA) said he was increasingly uneasy about Ottawa’s delays in signing the agreement, especially as Ottawa has warmed toward Beijing. There are “no negotiations left. Not only [is it] initialed, we have three versions of the text ready: English, French and Mandarin,” Tseng said. “That tells you how close we are to the final signature.” Tseng said that he hoped Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday bestowed one of Taiwan’s highest honors on Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) Ambassador Andrea Clare Bowman in recognition of her contributions to bilateral ties. “By conferring the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon on Ambassador Bowman today, I want to sincerely thank her, on behalf of the Taiwanese people, for her outstanding contribution to deepening diplomatic ties between Taiwan and SVG,” Lai said at a ceremony held at the Presidential Office in Taipei. He noted that Bowman became SVG’s first ambassador to Taiwan in 2019 and
RSS