■ DEFENSE
MND announces reshuffle
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) announced a senior military reshuffle on Monday, with the deputy minister of defense, Admiral Lin Chen-yi (林鎮夷), promoted to the post of chief of the general staff. Lin, a naval academy graduate who rose through the ranks to reach the navy's top office before assuming his current post, will replace General Hou Shou-yeh (霍守業), who has been tapped to serve as a strategic adviser to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九). Meanwhile, Army Commanding General Chao Shih-chang (趙世璋) will succeed Lin as deputy minister of defense. Chao's position will be filled by Yang Tien-hsiao (楊天嘯), incumbent head of the ministry's General Political Warfare Bureau. The MND said the personnel changes would take effect tomorrow.
■ DIPLOMACY
Lai to attend St Lucia day
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has named Judicial Yuan President Lai In-jaw (賴英照) as his special envoy to attend the 30th Independence Day celebrations in St Lucia, one of the nation's Caribbean diplomatic allies. Diego Chou (周麟), deputy director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of Central and South American Affairs, said the delegation attending the Feb. 22 celebration would include Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Javier Hou (侯清山), who would depart for St Lucia on Feb. 19. The ministry said Lai would be the highest-ranking official from Taiwan to visit the Caribbean island nation since the two countries restored diplomatic relations in April 2007. St Lucia established official relations with Taiwan in 1984 but the friendship was terminated in 1997 when St Lucia's government at the time switched diplomatic recognition to China.
■ POLITICS
Winkler eyes legislature
Robin Winkler, an environmentalist and founder of Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association (WaH), said yesterday he was bidding for the Green Party Taiwan's (GPT) nomination for the legislative by-election in Taipei City's sixth electoral district. The by-election is being held after former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator Diane Lee (李慶安) resigned over allegations she still holds US citizenship. The Nationality Act (國籍法) prohibits government officials from possessing foreign citizenship. Winkler, who gave up his US citizenship in 2003 to become a naturalized Taiwanese, is a lawyer by occupation. Winkler, who founded WaH in 1993, is an avid lobbyist for the rights of animals and plants against developing constructions. He also served one term as a member of the Environmental Protection Administration's environmental impact assessment panel. Other GPT primary candidates include GPT Secretary-General Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲), as well as the party's founding member Chang Shu-mei (張淑玫).
■ ENVIRONMENT
Group plans gene bank
An environmental protection association in Taipei County is promoting a project to establish the nation's first gene bank for native aquatic and wetland plants in Wugu Township (五股). The Taipei County Sustainable and Environmental Development Association floated the concept of setting up the gene bank in line with the theme for World Wetlands Day 2009 — Upstream-Downstream: Wetlands Connect Us All, association president Chen Mu-cheng said. Chen said the association hoped the gene bank could help increase public awareness of the fact that the nation's aquatic plants are fast-disappearing and enhance public understanding of people and wetlands.
NUMBERS IMBALANCE: More than 4 million Taiwanese have visited China this year, while only about half a million Chinese have visited here Beijing has yet to respond to Taiwan’s requests for negotiation over matters related to the recovery of cross-strait tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. Taiwan’s tourism authority issued the statement after Chinese-language daily the China Times reported yesterday that the government’s policy of banning group tours to China does not stop Taiwanese from visiting the country. As of October, more than 4.2 million had traveled to China this year, exceeding last year. Beijing estimated the number of Taiwanese tourists in China could reach 4.5 million this year. By contrast, only 500,000 Chinese tourists are expected in Taiwan, the report said. The report
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
Temperatures are forecast to drop steadily as a continental cold air mass moves across Taiwan, with some areas also likely to see heavy rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. From today through early tomorrow, a cold air mass would keep temperatures low across central and northern Taiwan, and the eastern half of Taiwan proper, with isolated brief showers forecast along Keelung’s north coast, Taipei and New Taipei City’s mountainous areas and eastern Taiwan, it said. Lows of 11°C to 15°C are forecast in central and northern Taiwan, Yilan County, and the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties, and 14°C to 17°C
STEERING FAILURE: The first boat of its class is experiencing teething issues as it readies for acceptance by the navy, according to a recent story about rudder failure The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first locally built submarine, allegedly suffered a total failure of stern hydraulic systems during the second round of sea acceptance trials on June 26, and sailors were forced to manually operate the X-rudder to turn the submarine and return to port, news Web site Mirror Daily reported yesterday. The report said that tugboats following the Hai Kun assisted the submarine in avoiding collisions with other ships due to the X-rudder malfunctioning. At the time of the report, the submarine had completed its trials and was scheduled to begin diving and surfacing tests in shallow areas. The X-rudder,
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