Political considerations are preventing a stranded rare crane from being returned to its original habitat in northeastern China, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday.
Hau made the remarks during a question-and-answer session at the Taipei City Council where independent Councilor Lin Jui-tu (林瑞圖) showed a paper issued by China's Cha-Lung Nature Reserve, a center dedicated to the protection of waterfowl, commissioning him to assist in sending the red-crowned crane back to its natural habitat in China.
If this is not possible, it is willing to send three red-crowned cranes to Taiwan to accompany the stranded crane, Lin said.
The bird was injured at Hsinchu Air Base in September 2004 and taken to the Taipei City Zoo for treatment, where it has remained since.
Hau said that though strenuous efforts have been made toward returning the crane to China, the problem lies with "the governments on each side of the Taiwan Strait, which are too pre-occupied with political and ideological considerations."
Responding to suggestions that the crane be released into the wild, Hau said this might not be feasible, noting that it has been kept in a cage for nearly three years and that its flying ability may have degenerated.
"What the city government can do is to provide it with protection," Hau said, adding that the city has no desire to keep the bird in Taiwan indefinitely.
Hau said he communicated with the Council of Agriculture recently, but said that as the crane is on the protected list of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), it requires consent from China before the bird can be sent there.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A fugitive in a suspected cosmetic surgery fraud case today returned to Taiwan from Canada, after being wanted for six years. Internet celebrity Su Chen-tuan (蘇陳端), known as Lady Nai Nai (貴婦奈奈), and her former boyfriend, plastic surgeon Paul Huang (黃博健), allegedly defrauded clients and friends of about NT$1 billion (US$30.66 million). Su was put on a wanted list in 2019 when she lived in Toronto, Canada, after failing to respond to subpoenas and arrest warrants from the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. Su arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at 5am today on an EVA Air flight accompanied by a
RSS