■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.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all