■ POLITICS
Calendar causes stir
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsueh Ling (薛凌) yesterday drew attention to a calendar for next year produced by Taoyuan County Council bearing the signatures of council speaker Tseng Chung-yi (曾忠義) and vice speaker Chou Yi-shen (邱義勝) that had Oct. 1 marked as National Day and July 1 as “Reunification Day.” Both Tseng and Chou are members of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT). Hsueh said Taiwan’s National Day is Oct. 10, and Oct. 1 is China’s. Reunification Day could be referring to the KMT’s timetable for unification with China, he said. The calendar has been produced as a gift for Taoyuan residents, the legislator said.
■CULTURE
Minister showcases expo
Visitors can enjoy traditional theater, gourmet, games and shopping at the Taiwan Hakka Exposition to be officially launched on Saturday, Council for Hakka Affairs Minister Huang Yu-chen (黃玉振) announced yesterday. “We’ve spent more than NT$100 million [US$3 million] in planning for the exposition,” Huang told a news conference at the council yesterday. “The expo ground will be divided into 11 areas, and I assure you that you can always find something delicious, spectacular and fun there.” Visitors can learn about outstanding Taiwanese Hakkas, traditional Hakka holidays and the history of Hakkas in Taiwan. They can also buy traditional Hakka products and enjoy Hakka cuisine. “We’ve invited more than 80 Hakka businesses and more than 100 performing troupes to participate in the exposition,” Huang said. The exposition will be held at the Taipei County Hakka Museum in Sansia Township (三峽), and will last until Feb. 15. Shuttle buses will depart from nearby Yingge Railway Station and Yongning MRT station. For further details, visit:
www.hakkaexpo.com.tw.
■TRANSPORTATION
Angkor flights to resume
TransAsia Airways is scheduled to launch its first direct charter flight on Friday between Taipei and the Cambodian city of Siem Reap, the gateway to the world renowned temple complex of Angkor Wat. Far Eastern Air Transport, which in cooperation with Cambodia-based Angkor Airways used to provide regularly scheduled flights on the route, canceled the service in May because of financial difficulties. TransAsia Airways will fly 15 charter flights a month, serving only tour groups and travelers that join foreign independent travel packages offered by travel agencies. The initial response to the charter scheme, which will continue for at least a year, has been good, with the first two scheduled flights already fully booked, the representative said.
■AGRICULTURE
Jujubes sent to Canada
A 2.5 tonne batch of Chinese dates produced in Pingtung County has been shipped to Canada recently, the first fruit of this kind to be exported abroad this year, the Pingtung Department of Agriculture said yesterday. New orders for the Chinese dates, also known as jujubes, or honey dates, have also been received from China and shipments are expected to be dispatched shortly, department officials said. Meanwhile, Cheng Shuang-chuan (鄭雙銓), chief of Pingtung’s Yenpu Township (鹽埔), is scheduled to lead some 80 jujube farmers to Taipei from Friday to Saturday to boost sales of the fruit. Jujubes are poised to become the second flagship fruit from Pingtung County behind the bell fruit, which has been a good earner for Pingtung’s farmers.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
REWRITING HISTORY: China has been advocating a ‘correct’ interpretation of the victory over Japan that brings the CCP’s contributions to the forefront, an expert said An elderly Chinese war veteran’s shin still bears the mark of a bullet wound he sustained when fighting the Japanese as a teenager, a year before the end of World War II. Eighty years on, Li Jinshui’s scar remains as testimony to the bravery of Chinese troops in a conflict that killed millions of their people. However, the story behind China’s overthrow of the brutal Japanese occupation is deeply contested. Historians broadly agree that credit for victory lies primarily with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)-led Republic of China (ROC) Army. Its leader, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a
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