■SOCIETY
Eight missing at sea
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said last night that eight Taiwanese with an aquaculture company operating in Madagascar had gone missing at sea. Ministry Spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said the eight individuals had been missing since 3pm on Friday, when one team member, Liu Shou-chi (劉守智), called his brother in Taiwan for help. Communication was cut off before the brother could make further inquiries on their status. Chen said the ministry had dispatched its personnel stationed in South Africa to Madagascar to work with its navy in locating the missing individuals.
■AGRICULTURE
Yunlin chief visits Beijing
Yunlin County Commissioner Su Chih-fen (蘇治芬) left for Beijing yesterday to promote agricultural produce and other products from the southern county. Su, leading a delegation of county officials, farmers, aquaculturists and fruit growers, said she hoped to set up a foothold in Beijing for the county’s products during the eight-day visit. Su is the first Democratic Progressive Party local government mayor or commissioner to travel to China for bilateral exchanges. “As the head of an agricultural county, this is not a personal trip, but one for the benefit of the county’s development,” she said. Su said she hopes to consult with Chinese customs officials to facilitate customs clearance for the county’s agricultural and seafood products to ensure they reach the shelves while they are still fresh.
■DIPLOMACY
Wu to return to NCCU
Taiwan’s representative to the US, Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), yesterday confirmed that he will be returning to his research position at National Chengchi University (NCCU) beginning next month. Wu’s position was the subject of much speculation as many thought he would not be allowed to return to NCCU, possibly because of political pressure. Wu is a staunch Taiwanese independence supporter who was a major player in the former Democratic Progressive Party administration. He will be returning as a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations at NCCU. Wu was originally scheduled to return to Taiwan on July 26, but he will step down and return to Taiwan one week later than scheduled to host four visiting legislative delegations at the end of this month, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US said on Friday.
■TOURISM
Visitors to Vietnam warned
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday urged Taiwanese nationals traveling to Vietnam to pay attention to their safety, after seven Taiwanese were robbed in Ho Chi Minh City in the first six months of this year. MOFA officials said Vietnamese criminals had targeted foreigners in recent months, often riding motorcycles and grabbing the bags of their victims from behind. The officials said that with Taiwan’s businesspeople investing in Vietnam and an increasing number of marriages between Vietnamese women and Taiwanese men in recent years, exchanges of visitors between the countries have also increased rapidly. The number of Taiwanese people traveling to Vietnam increased to 272,000 last year from 225,000 in 2002, Tourism Bureau figures showed.
■DIPLOMACY
Ma seeks new UN plan
The nation is considering a new approach for its bid to join the UN, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday. Ma said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been instructed to come up with a new approach before the UN General Assembly gathers in New York for its annual meeting in September.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner