■ TAIWAN EXPORTS BULLETS TO US
Taiwan has shipped 1 billion rifle bullets to the US for NT$560 million (US$17 million) in a rare arms sale to the US, it was reported yesterday. The 5.56mm bullets are mainly used to replenish supplies which have run low after wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Chinese-language China Times reported, citing a military source. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense last year beat off competition from the likes of Singapore and South Korea to win the five-year contract from a US military subcontractor, it was reported. In a separate deal, the China Times said the Taiwanese Army plans to purchase 60 UH-60M Black Hawk transport helicopters from Washington for NT$71.7 billion. The US is Taiwan's leading arms supplier.
■ EDUCATION
MAC eases restrictions
The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday announced the easing of restrictions on students from Hong Kong and Macau studying in Taiwan. "In a joint meeting on Monday, we approved the education ministry's proposal to ease the restrictions on Hong Kong and Macau students coming to study in universities in Taiwan," the MAC said in a statement. Under the latest measure, Hong Kong and Macau residents who have lived in the special administrative regions for six years consecutively are eligible to apply to study in Taiwan's universities, down from the previous eight-year requirement, the council said. Students must sit for a joint entrance examination held simultaneously in Hong Kong and Macau, council officials said.
■ HEALTH
CDC warns on influenza
Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is more serious than the common cold and people over the age of 65 should not hesitate to take the government up on its offer of free flu shots, said Shih Wen-yi, deputy director of the Department of Health's Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Shih made the appeal after a recent survey found that many senior citizens hold misconceptions about the flu. The CDC's survey of 1,115 people aged 65 or older found that 43.3 percent of respondents doubted the vaccine's effectiveness. Meanwhile, 22 percent of respondents said they were uncertain whether they would go to hospitals or clinics to receive flu shots because they are afraid of side effects. As a result of these misconceptions, Shih said less than half of the country's 2.36 million senior citizens have received free flu shots so far this year.
■ DEFENSE
MND explains need for AC
The installation of air conditioners at 10 of the military's basic training camps is intended to give newly enlisted men time to adapt to their new environment, a Ministry of National Defense official said yesterday. Wu Ta-peng , vice chief of the Command Staff, made the remarks while delivering a report to the National Defense Committee at the Legislative Yuan. Responding to news reports that the ministry is preparing to spend NT$400 million (US$12.27 million) to install the air conditioners, Wu said the ministry is hoping that new conscripts will be given time to adjust during the transitional period from civilian life to the military." The Reserve Command said in a press release that the basic training camps were built between the 1960s and 1970s. They are cement flat-roofed buildings that easily trap light and heat.
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