■ POLITICS
Wang deflects bid gossip
Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) yesterday dismissed a claim by Winston Wong (王文洋), son of billionaire Wang Yung-ching (王永慶), that the legislative speaker would run for president next year, saying instead that he would campaign for Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). During an interview with CNA on Monday, Winston Wong said that although the speaker had not declared a presidential bid, he would decide on the matter according to circumstances. Asked to comment, Wang Jin-pyng said he was grateful for Winston Wong's encouragement and expectation that he would run, but that he would be backing Ma.
■ POLITICS
Hsieh set for US trip
Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) will take a 10-day trip to the US from July 20. Hsieh's campaign office said he will visit New York, Washington, Detroit and Los Angeles. During his stay in Washington, Hsieh will address the National Press Club and attend a reception with US Congress members, Hsieh aide Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said yesterday. Hsieh's office has also arranged for private activities while he is in Los Angeles. Hsieh will spend three days in Washington, during which time the office has arranged one press event per day, Chao said. Hsieh will also visit the Leader Dogs for the Blind, a training school for guide dogs in Rochester, Michigan, because teachers at the school have worked to improve guide dog training in Taiwan, the office said.
■ POLITICS
Soong returns to Taiwan
People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) returned to Taipei yesterday after several weeks of vacation in the US. On arrival at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Soong said that the main purpose of his return was to acquire a better understanding of the state of negotiations between the PFP and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Soong said the parties would continue to cooperate in the upcoming legislative election and in screening major bills in the legislature. With the next legislative election adopting a "single-member, two vote" system and the number of seats halved to 113, the pan-blue parties have been attempting to overcome differences over candidate nominations. Soong was greeted at the airport by KMT Secretary-General Wu Den-yi (吳敦義) and senior PFP officials, including Deputy Legislative Speaker Chung Jung-chi (鍾榮吉).
■ TRANSPORT
Flag fall rises in Kaohsiung
The taxi flag fall in Kaohsiung City will increase from NT$70 to NT$85 starting on July 1, the Kaohsiung City Government said yesterday. A hike proposal from the Kaohsiung City Independent Taxi Drivers' Union was approved at a city government administrative meeting yesterday that was presided over by Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), who has just been discharged from hospital after suffering a mild stroke. The proposal was agreed to after a survey by the city government's Research, Development and Evaluation Commission found that about 55 percent of the public would accept the hike. The director-general of the city government's Transportation Bureau, Wang Kuo-tsai (王國材), yesterday said the bureau would draw up plans to help taxi drivers improve their presentation and service.
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