■ Culture
Festival starts tomorrow
Featuring local and international urban folk artists ranging from Wubai and Chinablue to Frente and Daniel Powter, the two-day Urban Simple Life festival begins tomorrow. The festival, sponsored by Council of Cultural Affairs and the Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs, concludes on Sunday at Huashen Culture Park. More than 40 artists and bands have been invited to perform unplugged and the festival also features street market with booths showcasing arts and crafts, and forums at which writers and artists share their life experiences. Tickets cost NT$800 if bought in advance and NT$1,000 on the spot. For more information, call the park at 02-3343-6376.
■ Immigration
Exchange regulations eased
The government has decided to further relax regulations on the number of Chinese citizens visiting Taiwan for business purposes at the invitation of local companies or Taiwan-based foreign corporations, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) reported yesterday. The ceiling on the number of Chinese citizens each company is allowed to invite has been raised from 30 to 50 a year. The MOI consulted with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Council for Economic Planning and Development, and the Mainland Affairs Council before finalizing the revisions, MOI officials said. The Ministry of Economic Affairs has been authorized to oversee the matter, MOI officials said.
■ Politics
MOFA dismisses report
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs official yesterday dismissed a story in the South China Morning Post on Wednesday which said US President George W. Bush had asked Morris Chang (張忠謀), President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) personal envoy to APEC, to convey his misgivings about Chen's push for constitutional reform and had also questioned Chen's credibility. The report said Bush made the comments to Chang when he met him during the APEC summit held in Hanoi two weeks ago. John Chen (陳忠), director-general of the Department of International Organizations, who also was one of the most senior officials in charge of Taiwan's participation at the summit, said the report in the Hong Kong newspaper was erroneous.
■ Politics
DPP legislator pans Luo
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬) yesterday criticized former colleague Luo Wen-chia (羅文嘉) for being ungrateful towards President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). "The time, place and person were all wrong [when the comments where made]," Gao said. "Although the party respects members' differing opinions, Luo should appreciate the fact that he bears the `original sin' [of a close relationship with Chen] and should expect consequences," he said. Gao said he agreed with Luo's insistence that the DPP reflect on recent events, but as Luo's comments had drawn such strong criticism from party members, Gao said that Luo might be the one who should engage in reflection. Luo, a former protege of Chen, said on ETTV on Monday that he believed Chen did not intend to embezzle money from his the Presidential Office "state affairs fund," but made the mistake of lying to try and cover up for inconsistencies in the case. Luo is scheduled to return to Taipei tomorrow. He has been attending a short-term study program at Harvard University since he lost the election for Taipei County commissioner last December.
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