■ AID
Tzu Chi certifies volunteers
The Taiwan-based Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation will certify eight Zulu volunteers from the South Africa as officers of the foundation, a senior Tzu Chi official, Pan Ming-shui (潘明水), said yesterday. Pan, who provides aid services in southern Africa, said that with the certifications, the eight volunteers would now be authorized to visit people in need and hold fundraising activities on behalf of the foundation. The eight volunteers, who have already taken a two-year training course, are in Taiwan attending a five-day seminar for the foundation's international volunteers. Attended by more than 600 participants from 23 countries and territories, the seminar is being held in Hualien County, where the foundation's headquarters are located, Pan said.
■ DIPLOMACY
Taiwan makes donation
Taiwan donated US$170,000 to the Philippine Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to boost bilateral cooperation in weather research and disaster prevention, Taiwan's representative to the Philippines, Wu Hsin-hsing (吳新興), said yesterday. Wu presented the donation to DOST Secretary Estrella Alabastro on behalf of the Taiwanese government in Quezon City on Friday. The donation will help the Philippines on two research programs -- weather hazard prevention and rainfall analysis technology. The weather hazard prevention program aims to upgrade the equipment at the Philippines' high-altitude weather observation stations to collect better data on the formation of typhoons. The rainfall analysis program will improve the Philippines' rainfall observation network and rainfall analysis capabilities through the upgraded weather observation stations.
■ TRADE
Chinese dangers online
The Council of Mainland Affairs (MAC) recently launched a new Web page designed to remind Taiwanese of the global risks and challenges generated by China's rapid economic development. The new Web page can be accessed on the main page of the council's Web site at www.mac.gov.tw. MAC Vice Chairman Johnnason Liu (劉德勳) said that low-priced Chinese products were now sold in many countries, which has brought unemployment problems and posed a threat to international trade. Citing WTO statistics, Liu said China had been the target of the highest number of anti-dumping investigations for the past 12 years in a row. Three hundred-and-seventy-five of China's 536 cases have resulted in the imposition of anti-dumping duties by the WTO, or twice the number of duties leveled against second-placed South Korea, he said.
■ JUSTICE
Judicial system a mystery
More than 70 percent of people do not have a full understanding of the nation's judicial system, a survey released by the Judicial Yuan showed yesterday. The poll was conducted from July 25 to Aug. 9, with 5,003 samples from people aged 20 and older. Of the respondents, 1,740 said they did not have any court experience. The poll showed that 72 percent of respondents said they did not have a full understanding of the country's judicial system, while 22 percent -- those with a higher education degree, a higher salary and/or more experience with the courts -- said they understood the system, the Judicial Yuan said. It said it would ask subagencies to improve public education on how it operates.
The first of 10 new high-capacity trains purchased from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem arrived at the Port of Taipei yesterday to meet the demands of an expanding metro network, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. The train completed a three-day, 1,200km voyage from the Port of Masan in South Korea, the company said. Costing NT$590 million (US$18.79 million) each, the new six-carriage trains feature a redesigned interior based on "human-centric" transportation concepts, TRTC said. The design utilizes continuous longitudinal seating to widen the aisles and optimize passenger flow, while also upgrading passenger information displays and driving control systems for a more comfortable
Taiwan's first indigenous defense submarine, the SS-711 Hai Kun (海鯤, or Narwhal), departed for its 13th sea trial at 7am today, marking its seventh submerged test, with delivery to the navy scheduled for July. The outing also marked its first sea deployment since President William Lai (賴清德) boarded the submarine for an inspection on March 19, drawing a crowd of military enthusiasts who gathered to show support. The submarine this morning departed port accompanied by CSBC Corp’s Endeavor Manta (奮進魔鬼魚號) uncrewed surface vessel and a navy M109 assault boat. Amid public interest in key milestones such as torpedo-launching operations and overnight submerged trials,
Quarantine awareness posters at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport have gone viral for their use of wordplay. Issued by the airport branch of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency, the posters feature sniffer dogs making a range of facial expressions, paired with advisory messages built around homophones. “We update the messages for holidays and campaign needs, periodically refreshing materials to attract people’s attention,” quarantine officials said. “The aim is to use the dogs’ appeal to draw focus to quarantine regulations.” A Japanese traveler visiting Taiwan has posted a photo on X of a poster showing a quarantine dog with a
Taiwan’s coffee community has launched a “one-person-one-e-mail” campaign, calling for people to send a protest-e-mail to the World Coffee Championships (WCC) urging it to redesignate Taiwanese competitors as from “Taiwan,” rather than “Chinese Taipei.” The call followed sudden action last week after the WCC changed all references to Taiwanese competitors from “Taiwan” to “Chinese Taipei,” including recent World Latte Art champion Bala (林紹興), who won the World Latte Art Championship in San Diego earlier this month. When Bala received the trophy, he was referred to as representing Taiwan, as well as in the announcement on the WCC’s Web site, until it
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