■ POLITICS
Su takes up GIO post
New Government Information Office Minister Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) was inaugurated yesterday, saying that he wasn’t brave enough to refuse when asked to take the position in view of the critical economic situation facing the nation. Su succeeds Vanessa Shih (史亞平), who will leave for Singapore to serve as the nation’s representative there. Minister Without Portfolio Ovid Tzeng (曾志朗) presided as Shih gave her office seal to Su at a handover ceremony at the Executive Yuan yesterday morning. “I am not here to make government statements, nor am I here to have debates. I am here to do something [for the country],” Su said. Su praised Shih for establishing a sound foundation during her seven-month tenure and leaving him an excellent team to work with. Born in 1976, Su will be the youngest member of the Cabinet. Tzeng commended Su for his eloquence while serving as spokesman for President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) presidential campaign, saying that he would be good at conveying government policies to the public.
■ TRANSPORTATION
Taxi drivers announce fees
Because of the economic slow down this year, taxi drivers in Taipei City and county and Keelung have decided not to add a Lunar New Year holiday surcharge. Taipei Taxi Association president Liang Ping-liang (梁平良) said many taxi drivers earn less than NT$1,000 a day, and he hoped the decision would increase the public’s willingness to travel by taxi during the holiday. Taxi drivers in Taichung will add NT$85 to the meter from Lunar New Year’s Eve, which falls on Jan. 25, to the fifth day of the lunar new year, which falls on Jan. 30. A Taichung County traffic official said no decision had been made, but that they might follow the lead of Taichung City. Hualien taxi drivers will apply the night tax — an additional 20 percent to the meter — throughout the day. A Kaohsiung Taxi and Bus Association official said the city’s taxi drivers probably would follow Taipei’s example, but that the issue had not been discussed.
■ SCIENCE
Chicken shots a success
The National Science Council (NSC) yesterday claimed preliminary success in developing a three-in-one vaccine for chickens, which will help the birds ward off Newcastle Disease, Infectious Bursal Disease and fowl pox. Project leader and veterinary medicine professor at the National Chung-hsing University Lee Long-huw (李龍湖) said if his team succeeded, the vaccine would be the first three-in-one for chickens in the world.
■ TRAVEL
US visa-free path opens
Taiwan has recently forged a cooperative agreement with the US on improving travel security, paving the way for possible visa-free US entry for Taiwanese citizens, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Tuesday. An exchange of notes concerning the initiative was completed on Dec. 19 in Washington by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US and the American Institute in Taiwan, MOFA said in a statement. According to the Principles for Cooperation on Improving Travel Security established between the two countries, they will work together to crack down on forged documents, share traveler information, promote the issuance of e-passports and exchange information on terrorists, MOFA said. The two sides will work together on these and other measures as Taiwan must meet the requirements before further negotiating with Washington for visa-free entry, the ministry added.
■ HEALTH
Bureau earmarks funds
The Bureau of National Health Insurance (BNHI) has appropriated NT$100 million (US$3 million) to open clinics at elementary schools in remote villages that lack medical facilities. A BNHI medical affairs management official said yesterday that there are 53 mobile medical teams circulating among remote villages offering medical treatment. Every year they offer services to 530,000 people, the official said, adding that the BNHI has appropriated NT$400 million a year for the program. Nevertheless, there are still more than 40 villages not on the circuit that lack medical resources, prompting the BNHI to decide to open the additional clinics, as well as provide vehicles to bring patients to the clinics, the official said.
■ SOCIETY
Calligraphy event to kick off
More than 10,000 people are expected to take part in a calligraphy event today in Taipei to set a record for submission to the Guinness Book of World Records, the city’s Cultural Affairs Department said yesterday. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will be one of 16 officials to open the event, which will take place at the Huashan Cultural-Creative Park at 1pm today. Ma and the 15 other officials will write 16 propitious words with writing brushes and ink, department officials said. The ceremony will be followed by a mass calligraphy event in which more than 10,000 people are expected to take part, the officials added. The department is hoping to have the event included in the Guinness Book of World Records, as there is no record for large numbers of people performing calligraphy simultaneously at a single location.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
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
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard