■ CRIME
Museum officials suspected
Two top officials at the National Palace Museum are suspected of influence peddling in connection with the renovation of the institution, prosecutors said. The allegations, related to a NT$160 million (US$1.82 million) project to make the building earthquake-resistant, are the latest in a scandal over whether officials took payments in exchange for granting contracts. Deputy director Lin Po-ting (林柏亭) was detained while former museum director Shih Shou-chien (石守謙) was released on bail of NT$1 million, prosecutors said. The National Palace Museum, renowned for its rich collection of ancient Chinese treasures, reopened in February after a three-year renovation which cost an estimated NT$700 million.
■ EMERGENCY AID
Taiwan sends rice to Kenya
Taiwan donated 5,000 tonnes of rice to Kenya, in collaboration with the international charity organization Feed the Children (FTC), as relief for the East African country, which has been hit by drought, Taiwan's representative to the US, Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), said on Friday. Wu said the donated rice has been shipped to Kenya and will be delivered to Kenyan children by FTC through local social welfare organizations such as orphanages and hospitals in Nairobi. The donation is part of Taiwan's participation in a FTC program to feed millions of children suffering in areas struck by famine, Wu said, adding that another 5,000 tonnes of rice donated by Taiwan had been delivered to diplomatic ally Malawi. Taiwan donated 52 containers of new clothing, worth a total of US$17.6 million, to over 160,000 children in need in 11 countries last year.
■ EVENTS
City announces traffic rules
With the Taipei Dragon Boat Festival beginning today at Dajia Riverside Park, the Taipei City Government reminded the public of traffic regulations near the park, while providing shuttle bus services at the Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT station for participants at the event. During the festival, which runs through Tuesday, traffic control will be enforced between Dazhi Bridge and floodgates 8 and 9 from 7am to 10pm. Vehicles without authorized permits will not be allowed to enter, the Taipei City Department of Transportation said. Parking slots between Dazhi Bridge and eastward to Yingfeng Riverside Park (vehicles entering through Floodgate 7) and parking slots between Floodgate 9 and Floodgate 10 will be opened to parking for cars and motorcycles.
■ EVENTS
Hospital holds `catwalk'
The National Taiwan University Hospital celebrated its 112th anniversary yesterday, inviting cancer patients to strut the catwalk to show their confidence in fighting cancer, an NTU spokesman said. The NTU Hospital held the show on its 112th anniversary to make the celebration more meaningful, the spokesman said. Lin Yun-ying (林昀縈), a leukemia patient, and Hung Wei-ling (洪維玲), a breast cancer patient, had both suffered from despair and pain during medical treatment and had even written their wills in the expectation they would soon die. However, they conquered their fear and hopelessness and became volunteer workers at the hospital to share their experiences with patients in order to console them and ease their suffering. Lin and Hung joined yesterday's catwalk show to encourage more patients, the spokesman said.
■ SPORTS
Coaching law passed
After being shelved for the past two decades, legislation governing the employment of professional sports coaches finally cleared the legislature on Friday. Lawmakers approved an amendment to the National Sports Act (國民體育法) designating the Ministry of Education as being in charge of issues concerning the employment of professional sports instructors, including wages, welfare and definition of duties. The amendment also stipulates that management of issues concerning the retirement, resignation and laying off of professional coaches be conducted based on regulations that apply to education personnel. Sports Affairs Council officials hailed the amendment's passage, saying it should have a positive effect on the development of the nation's sports program.
■ TRANSPORT
Yuchang Highway opens
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) presided over an inauguration ceremony to mark the opening of the Yuchang Highway in eastern Taiwan yesterday. The 16.2km highway runs through the coastal mountain range linking Yuli Township (玉里) in Hualien County and Changbin Township (長濱) in Taitung County. The highway, which took nine years to build at a cost of NT$2.5 billion (US$75.43 million), also features 12 bridges and the 2.6km-long Yuchang Tunnel. Aboriginal elders also held a ritual to bless the new highway. The opening of the highway will benefit the tourism industry of Taitung and Hualien, Chang said. He added that the government would help promote the two counties' attractions overseas and set up a joint administrative center in eastern Taiwan to improve public services.
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