■SOCIETY
Disposable income rises
The average annual disposable household income in Taipei City stood at NT$1,287,800 (US$40,000) last year, topping all other cities and counties, the Taipei City Department of Budget, Accounting & Statistics said yesterday. The average disposable household income in Kaohsiung was NT$980,400 last year, while the figure for the rest of Taiwan stood at NT$923,900, an official said. Taipei City’s average increased 2 percent over that posted in 2006, the official said. The disposable income is income after taxes, bank interest and donation spending. Taipei families put aside an average of NT$324,100 each year as savings, or roughly 25 percent of their disposable household income, tallies compiled by the department showed.
■SOCIETY
AIT requests nominations
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange are soliciting faculty nominations for a Study of the US Institute program on “US National Security Policymaking in a Post 9/11 World.” The program will be held from mid-January to early March next year at an institution in the US. The Study of the US Institute is a six-week program for multinational groups of university faculty and professionals from outside the US. Approximately 18 foreign educators will be selected. The program aims to strengthen curriculums and improve the quality of teaching about the US at institutions outside the US. Mid-career university instructors with an academic interest in National Security issues are invited to apply. A program summary and application form can be found on the AIT Web site. The deadline is Oct. 5.
■JOURNALISM
UN policy panned
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders renewed its call on Tuesday for the UN to stop discriminating against Taiwanese journalists, who have again been barred from the annual session of the UN General Assembly. The UN has refused for years to issue press accreditation to Taiwanese journalists for the annual meeting on the grounds that Taiwan is not a UN member state. The policy continued for the 63rd session of the General Assembly that opened on Tuesday in New York. Taiwanese journalists used to be able to cover the annual World Health Assembly held every May in Geneva, but authorization was withdrawn in 2004 after pressure from China. In a letter sent recently to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert Menard called on the UN to “do something for the Taiwanese media.” “We regard journalists as individuals who represent only the media they work for and not their country,” the letter said.
■HEALTH
Better dementia care vowed
Minister of the Interior Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) said yesterday the government was aware of the problems faced by the families of dementia sufferers and would provide better care to sufferers to ease this burden. Liao was speaking at a news conference sponsored by the Taiwan Alzheimer’s Disease Association in which the association announced a series of activities, including screening and counseling, in 18 cities and counties this weekend. Liao said Taiwan had around 130,000 Alzheimer’s patients over the age of 65 and around 20,000 aged under 65. Grand Justice Hsu Yu-hsiu (�?q) expressed the hope that the government would subsidize brain scans and include them in regular health checks to allow for early detection and treatment.
■EDUCATION
Students head for France
Nine Taiwanese students will leave for France to work as short-term Mandarin teaching assistants in France’s middle schools next month, the Ministry of Education’s Bureau of International Cultural and Educational Relations said yesterday. The plan is part of the first foreign language teaching assistant exchange program between Taiwan and France, the bureau said. The exchange program is meant to promote Mandarin learning in France and enhance French students’ understanding of Taiwanese culture, the bureau said. Eleven teaching assistants from France recently arrived in Taiwan.
■EDUCATION
Veteran journalist to visit
From Saturday to Sept. 27, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) is sponsoring the visit of Deborah Potter, a television journalist and journalism educator, who will conduct workshops, talks and professional exchanges in Taiwan on media issues and media best practices. She is currently the executive director of NewsLab, an organization in Washington, dedicated to excellence in television news reporting. Potter will speak at university journalism departments in Taipei and Kaohsiung, conduct workshops for working journalists and give a public speech in Taipei on difficult decisions in journalistic coverage called “Tough Calls: The Untold Story” on Wednesday, Sept. 24 at 7:30pm at National Chengchi University’s downtown campus at 187 Jinhua Street. The program is free of charge and open to the public. Simultaneous interpretation will be provided. To register for the speech, log on to www.ait.org.tw/events/ToughCalls/. For more information, call AIT Public Affairs Section at (02) 2162-2315 or (02) 2162-2041.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
The Executive Yuan yesterday approved a southwestern extension of the Sanying MRT Line from New Taipei to Bade District (八德) in Taoyuan, with a goal of starting construction by late 2026. The 4.03-kilometer extension, featuring three new stations, will run from the current terminus at Yingtao Fude Station (LB12) in New Taipei City to Dannan Station (LB14), where it will connect with Taoyuan’s Green Line, New Taipei City Metro Corp said in a statement. This extension will follow the completion of core Sanying Line, a 14.29-kilometer medium-capacity system linking Tucheng (土城), Sansia (三峽)
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