■ ECONOMY
Food pricing criticized
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators yesterday criticized the government for failing to stabilize food prices. DPP Legislator Yeh Yi-ching (葉宜津) said that while the government had allowed food price increases in line with oil prices in previous months, it had done nothing to bring food prices down, adding that an increasing number of people were facing hardship because of the high prices. “Is the Cabinet’s price stabilization taskforce sleeping?” Yeh asked. DPP Legislator Cheng Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said the DPP caucus had recently found that while the price of some vegetables at the point of production remained stable, their price on the market had risen several times. Unscrupulous businesspeople are profiting from this, but the government continues to let consumers suffer, Cheng said.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Eco-friendly worshipping
Taipei City’s Civil Affairs Department began a series of activities yesterday to promote environment-friendly measures that can be applied to traditional religious rituals. The department will invite folk culture and religious ritual experts to discuss creative rituals and the history of worship in a forum yesterday and today from 9am to 5pm at Taipei NGO Center. An exhibition on Taiwan’s worship culture will be held at Taipei City’s Zhongzheng Public Assembly Hall from today through Dec. 23. The exhibition will feature environment-friendly measures presented by municipal temples and residents. Ghost money and products made with recycled materials, for example, can be seen at the exhibition, which is open to the public and free of charge.
■ ENVIRONMENT
Nanjenshan to reopen
The Nanjenshan Ecological Reserve Area in Kenting National Park, a low-lying, pristine slice of nature in the south, will be reopened for limited visits beginning on Jan. 1, after being closed for seven months for maintenance. In a statement, the Kenting National Park Administration Office said the area was closed on May 1 because of ground bed relocation that damaged hiking trails within the rain forest. During the closure, new hiking paths were built and the fauna and flora in the more than 5,800-hectare forest were left to flourish without human disturbance, the statement said.
■ EDUCATION
Summer program announced
The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently announced next year’s East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program and is accepting applications for US graduate students to do research in Taiwan for eight weeks next summer. The Summer Institute in Taiwan program is a joint program between the NSF and the National Science Council (NSC). The program provides US graduate students in science, including social and humanity sciences, and engineering, with an opportunity to come to Taiwan in the summer for eight weeks to participate in research projects in the areas of their studies at the participating host institutions. Awardees will receive a US$5,000 stipend and a round trip ticket, while the NSC will provide additional support to cover living expenses during the period of the program. All applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents enrolled in research-oriented masters or doctoral programs at a US institution. The deadline for submitting application for next year’s program is Dec. 9. Detailed information on the program and the application process is available at the NSF Web site at www.nsfsi.org.
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
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
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition