■ RELIGION
Master’s remarks slammed
Buddhist Master Hsing Yun’s (星雲) recent remarks about Tibetans showed he is ignorant of the fact that China has notoriously oppressed Tibetan Buddhism, the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) Department of Youth Development Director Chao Tien-lin (趙天麟) said yesterday. Chao made the remarks in response to media reports that the founder of the Fo Kuang Shan monastery had said during the World Buddhist Forum in China on Friday that there was nothing wrong with Tibetans identifying themselves as Chinese. Chao said the DPP regretted that Hsing Yun had mixed politics and religion, and added that his remarks were tantamount to rubbing salt into Tibetans’ wounds. Chao said the DPP had no comment about Hsing Yun’s comment that “there are no Taiwanese in Taiwan and Taiwanese are all Chinese,” as the Buddhist master was entitled to freedom of speech.
■ DIPLOMACY
Ou departs for El Salvador
Minister of Foreign Affairs Francisco Ou (歐鴻鍊) departed for an eight-day tour to El Salvador last night to thank the incumbent government for its longtime support of Taiwan and to meet president-elect Mauricio Funes to reiterate the nation’s commitment to carry out bilateral projects as promised, Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Henry Chen (陳銘政) said. Ou is scheduled to meet Funes later this week and will also meet overseas compatriots. Ou will not visit any other countries during his trip, Chen said.
■ DIPLOMACY
Ma eager for ties with India
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he hoped to see the nation’s relationship with India further enhanced and the level of visiting government officials upgraded. Ma said the recent cross-strait rapprochement has resulted in many countries that do not have diplomatic relations with Taiwan expressing an interest in improving ties with the nation. He said he hoped to see India take advantage of the rare historic opportunity to further enhance bilateral relations. The president made the remarks while receiving a delegation of Indian parliamentarians of the Bharatiya Janata Party at the Presidential Office. Ma said there was much room for development.
■ POLITICS
Ma praises deceased soldier
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday praised the patriotism of deceased lieutenant colonel Lee Hsi-wen (李希文), saying he did good for the people and the land of Taiwan. Lee, a native of China’s Henan Province, came to Taiwan with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) troops when he was 15 years old. He retired after 40 years of military service and died in August last year. Despite his modest income, he donated NT$3 million (US$90,000) to Ying-hai High School in Tainan City and NT$5 million to National Tainan Commercial Vocational Senior High School. During his visits to the two schools yesterday morning, Ma said the core values of Taiwan and its people were honesty, kindness, diligence, loyalty, initiative and tolerance, and that Lee possessed them all.
■ DIPLOMACY
Russian 921 teams coming
A group of Russian search and rescue workers that helped local teams during the 921 Earthquake in 1999 will come to Taiwan this September to take part in an event commemorating the 10th anniversary of the quake, Department of West Asian Affairs Director-General Antonio Chen said. The 921 Earthquake occurred on Sept. 21, 1999, and killed more than 2,400 people. A number of international teams came to help with the rescue effort. At the time, Russia dispatched a group of 83 professional search-and-rescue personnel to help in the search for survivors. Because of China’s refusal to allow Russian planes to fly through its airspace, the help was delayed for 12 hours.
■ WILDLIFE
Eight Matsu islets off-limits
The Lienchiang County Government on Monday barred people from visiting eight uninhabited coral islets in the Matsu island chain under its jurisdiction from today through Sept. 30, when migratory terns will be nesting on the islets to rear their young. The county government’s Construction Bureau said the Council of Agriculture, in accordance with the Wildlife Conservation Act (野生動物保育法), had declared the eight islets a wildlife conservation zone to protect the terns — a seabird species related to seagulls. Bureau officials said the Coast Guard Administration would patrol the area and warned that anybody landing on the eight islets during the six-month period would be subject to a fine of between NT$50,000 and NT$250,000. People who harm wildlife on the islets face a prison term of between six months and five years.
■ SOCIETY
Taiwan night markets travel
A Taiwan night market festival is slated to be held for the second time at Hong Kong’s East Point City from April 23 to April 26, with snacks and dishes from 16 renowned Taiwanese food chains to be showcased. The festival will be jointly organized by the Taiwan Visitors Association, Sun Hung Kai Properties and the Hong Kong & Macau Taiwanese Association to promote tourism. Taiwanese pop diva Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) will act as a spokeswoman for the event and will perform at the festival, along with Aboriginal and other artist groups. Wang Chun-pao (王春寶), director of the Taiwan Visitors Association’s Hong Kong office, said the festival was an important project in Taiwan’s tourism promotion efforts this year. The first Taiwan night market festival in Hong Kong was held last year in a bid to attract more Hong Kong residents to Taiwan. Apart from Taiwanese snacks, which are always a top attraction for Hong Kong visitors, Taiwanese fruit, tea, liquor and fish will also be on display at the night market festival.
“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
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
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
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