■ POLITICS
Wu denies favoring Chu
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday dismissed allegations that the party would revise its regulations in order to list Taoyuan County Commissioner Chu Li-lun (朱立倫) as vice chairman to cultivate him as Wu’s successor. Wu made the remarks in response to a United Daily News story that reported yesterday the KMT would revise party regulations to include Chu as a vice chairman, as Wu was trying to promote Chu as the next party leader. Chu, 41, has been deemed one of the party’s most promising stars alongside President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強).
■ CULTURE
Ilan puppet show begins
The Council for Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with the Preparatory Office of the National Center for Traditional Arts (NCFTA) and the Colin 5 company, hold the Fifth Glove Puppet Theater Joint Performance today. The 10-day show is being held at the NCFTA in Ilan County. Ten troupes will take part in the performance, with one troupe holding a workshop at 4:30pm and performing at 5pm daily, for the duration of the event. The first Glove Puppet Theater Joint Performance was held in 2001 and is part of the NCFTA’s efforts to preserve the traditional art. The event aims to showcase the traditional art of Hand Puppet Theater as well as contemporary, modern aspects of the art form. More information can be found at the NCFTA Web site.
■ SAFETY
Taipei plans hats for elderly
The Taipei City Government plans to design a cap with reflectors to be worn by senior citizens in order to make them more visible to drivers, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday. The idea came from an observation that seniors often favor wearing caps when they go out, Hau said. The mayor said that light reflectors on hats would allow drivers to clearly see pedestrians and thus help prevent accidents. Luo Shiaw-shyan (羅孝賢), director-general of Taipei City’s Department of Transportation, said that many senior citizens like to exercise at night or at dawn when visibility is low.
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