■ CULTURE
Singers teach ancient songs
Campaigners for the preservation of Hakka hope to pass on some almost-forgotten Hakka mountain folksongs through a workshop at the Sansia Hakka Cultural Park (三峽客家園區) in Taipei County today. Park spokeswoman Yao Yu-ting (饒妤庭) said that although many of the traditional Hakka mountain folksongs were still vital, some ancient songs have almost been forgotten and are near extinction. Lu Chin-ming (呂錦明), a Hakka culture preservationist, said that ancient mountain folksongs differed from most common traditional mountain songs in melody and the use of words in the lyrics. Mountain folksongs were an important form of entertainment for Hakka farmers in the past, Lu said. Senior Hakka mountain folksong singers, including a 82-year-old singer, will be presenting lessons at a workshop in the park, he said.
■ POLITICS
Gao resigns from DPP post
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬), who was indicted on corruption charges by Nantou prosecutors on Monday, yesterday resigned as chairman of the party's Central Review Committee. Prosecutors allege that Gao received NT$2 million (US$60,000) in April from a construction company in exchange for his promise to lobby the National Property Administration (NPA) to help the company win the rights to lease a piece of land belonging to the Taichung City Government. Calling a press conference to announce his resignation, Gao restated his innocence, adding that he would accept the result of the party's investigation.
■ CROSS-STRAIT TIES
MAC urges PRC to negotiate
China should resume negotiations with Taiwan on issues concerning the operation of cross-strait charter flights and visits to Taiwan by Chinese tourists to show its sincerity in improving relations between the two sides, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Chen Ming-tong (陳明通) said yesterday. Noting that the government considers the two policies to be milestones paving the way for the full opening of direct shipping and air links, Chen said direct cross-strait transportation would be achieved within one year of the implementation of the policies. If China resumes talks to resolve the remaining problems, Chinese will soon be able to travel to Taiwan on cross-strait charter flights, he said. The council said the main obstacles to progress have been China's referring to Taiwan as a local tourist destination and its insistence that cross-strait visits do not constitute travel "between two countries."
■ AGRICULTURE
DPP tackles manure prices
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislative caucus yesterday asked the Council of Agriculture to make sure that manure prices are kept under control. DPP legislative caucus whip Wang Tuoh (王拓) told a press conference that a recent hike in manure prices has had a negative impact on farmers' business. He said the government would make sure that inflation would not spin out of control. The caucus made the call yesterday following an announcement by the council on Thursday that it had helped local pig farmers by taking steps to maintain pork prices against a backdrop of rising international corn prices.
■ TOURISM
Japan tour guides sought
The JTB -- Japan's major tourist and travel agency association -- is planning to establish an office in Taiwan next year that aims to develop Mandarin-speaking tour guides. An executive with the JTB Asian Travel Company (JTB-ATC) said on Thursday that as an ever-increasing number of Mandarin-speaking tourists visit Japan each year, particularly from Taiwan, the association hopes more Taiwanese can serve as tour guides in Japan. The new JTB-ATC office will offer classes to aspiring guides.
■ EDUCATION
`English Day' proposed
Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興) yesterday proposed that an "English Day" be held at selected elementary schools. Yang, while inspecting two elementary schools, expressed hope that all students will speak English on that day and that they will make efforts to master English in addition to their mother tongues. The two schools -- Wufu Elementary School and Fengshan Elementary School -- have been included in an "English village" program planned by the Kaohsiung County Government. The two schools will put idle classrooms to good use by setting up "English villages," including simulated restaurants, airports, customs offices, MRT stations, hospitals and other common environments.
■ EDUCATION
Host families needed
National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU) in Keelung City is soliciting applications for host families to provice short-term accommodation for foreign students, a spokesman for the school said yesterday. The application period will last until Nov. 2. The school has a total of 35 foreign graduate students, with most coming from France, Guatemala, South Korea, Indonesia, Panama, Belize and the Philippines. Host families need only provide short-term homestay experience and occasional assistance, such as airport pickups for the foreign students as the students already have permanent lodgings. People who are interested in providing the service can visit the NTOU Web site, the spokesman said.
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