■ WEATHER
Blue skies ahead
People in Taiwan and the islands of Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu will see mostly sunny skies throughout the coming week, the Central Weather Bureau said in a forecast yesterday. Meteorologists at the bureau predicted stable weather with little chance of rain for the next seven days for Taiwan and the outlying islands, although northeastern, eastern and southeastern regions could see cloudy skies from Friday through Sunday. Daytime temperatures could rise to over 30oC, the bureau said, adding that because of the prevailing cool northerly wind, the difference in daytime and nighttime temperatures might be as high as eight degrees.
■ POLITICS
Wang yet to be invited
Although Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential contender Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has said the party must determine its presidential ticket as soon as possible and that he would like Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) to be his running mate, Wang yesterday said Ma had not invited him to be his running mate. "[Ma] never told me that he wanted me to be his running mate. I learned the news from media reports and there has been no evidence for this," Wang told the media yesterday. After Ma was nominated as KMT presidential candidate in the party's Central Standing Committee on May 2, he said he would seek to meet Wang and discuss how they can work together to secure victory in next year's presidential election.
■ NURsing
Breastfeeders' main worries
The top concern of nursing mothers is that they do not produce enough milk for their baby, said the Bureau of Health Promotion's analysis of calls received by its nursing mothers' hotline. Almost 40 percent of calls are from women who are worried that their babies are not getting enough breast milk. Other problems encountered by mothers include breast discomforts and abnormalities, how to collect milk at work and babies developing jaundice. Women who think they do not produce enough milk should carefully consider their options before turning to baby formula, said Wang Shu-fang (王淑芳), secretary-general of the Taiwan Academy of Breastfeeding. "Ninety-eight percent of women are biologically capable of producing enough milk for their babies if they adopt the right techniques," Wang said. "More common problems in milk pro-duction include posture, pumping technique and people's lack of understanding of breast-feeding women."
■ DEFENSE
And then there were three
Defense Minister Lee Jye (李傑) said yesterday that the Ministry of National Defense had altered "spiritual and behavior" guidelines that harked back to the authoritarian era. The "five convictions" that guided the members of the country's armed forces have been reduced to three. Fielding questions at the legislative Defense Committee, Lee said that of the "five convictions" -- doctrine, leadership, nation, responsibility and honor -- the notions of "doctrine" and "leadership" have been removed as times have changed. However, Lieutenant-General Chen Kuo-hsiang (陳國祥), chief of the General Political Warfare Bureau under the Ministry of National Defense, who was also present during the question-and-answer period, said the removal was still under discussion and that no conclusion had been reached.
■ TRANSPORTATION
`Small links' travel rises
Travel rates on the "small three links" between Kinmen and Matsu islands and three ports in China's Fujian Province have risen, with first-quarter figures for both passengers and voyages posting noticeable year-on-year growth, the government reported yesterday. Statistics compiled by the Cabinet-level Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics show that ferries traveling between the islands and China made 1,300 trips in the first three months of this year, up 436 from a year ago. During the same three-month period, more than 98,000 passengers -- an annual increase of 25.8 percent -- traveled between the two sides, with some 84,000 leaving Taiwan for China, budget directorate statistics show. Although only about 14,000 Chinese people entered Kinmen or Matsu in the first quarter via the "three small links," the figure nevertheless represented a year on year rise of 48 percent.
■ DIPLOMACY
Kiribati ties are solid: Tong
The Republic of Kiribati's relations with Taiwan are solid and the people of Kiribati are grateful to Taiwan for its generous aid in various fields, Kiribati President Anote Tong said on Sunday. Tong made the remarks in an interview in Washington, where he will attend the eighth Pacific Island Conference of Leaders scheduled to open yesterday. Asked if he is satisfied with the aid programs provided by the Taiwan government, Tong said Kiribati feels immense gratitude toward Taiwan. Tong said he decided to forge diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 2003 when the latter began offering aid to his country in forms such as an agricultural development program, a plan for medical and health care cooperation, and cooperative fishery ties.
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