■ EVENTS
BaLiwakes remembered
The Council for Cultural Affairs and the National Center for Traditional Arts will host two concerts on Saturday in commemoration of Puyuma tribe musician BaLiwakes, better known by his Chinese name Lu Shen-pao (陸森寶). BaLiwakes was born in 1910 and was trained in Western music. However, he insisted on writing his lyrics in the Puyuma language, council vice-chairman Wu Chin-fa (吳錦發) said during a press conference at the council to promote the concerts and to launch a biography of BaLiwakes. "He not only passed on his music, but also many poetic words and sentences in the Puyuma language" long lost in modern speech, Wu said. The concerts will be held from 6pm to 9:30pm on Saturday at the Tien Education Center Chapel in Sindian (新店) and the National Museum of Prehistory in Taitung.
■ EVENTS
Hakka photo exhibit opens
The Council of Hakka Affairs launched the "Hakka Impression 2007" photo exhibition at the National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall yesterday. The changing lifestyle of Hakka over the past century and comparative points of view between two generations of photographers are the themes of the exhibition, council minister Lee Yung-teh (李永得) said at a press conference opening the exhibition. To showcase generational differences, the exhibition includes works by senior Hakka photographers as well as by those from the younger generation. In addition, six non-Hakka photographers were also invited to participate in the exhibition to provide an "outsider's" point of view, a council press release said. The event runs until Nov. 27.
■ DIPLOMACY
Ma to visit Japan
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will visit Japan from Nov. 20 to Nov. 22 to present his policies on economic development, staff from his election campaign said yesterday. Ma, who is expected to meet representatives from Japan's business and political sectors, will be accompanied by KMT Vice Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤), who maintains extensive ties with Japanese political and economic communities, Ma aides said. Last year, Ma visited Japan in his capacity as KMT chairman, the aides said, adding that this time, as a presidential hopeful, Ma would elaborate on his plans to transform Taiwan into a hub for financial services, trade and transportation in the Asia-Pacific region with stable cross-Taiwan Strait relations.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
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