■ FOOD
Meat found in vegetarian food
The Investigation Bureau recently found that some processed foods advertised as vegetarian contained meat and said it would refer producers who knowingly added meat to their products for prosecution on fraud charges. Pu Chang-en (蒲長恩), a technician at the bureau’s Department of Forensic Science, said yesterday that among samples collected from 31 vegetarian food vendors in Taipei City and County for safety checks, food taken from 17 vendors contained meat. An investigation targeting the producers of the processed food was launched to determine whether meat was deliberately added to the soybean-based products to enrich their texture and flavor. Fu said it was possible that vegetarian food showing small traces of meat was contaminated by poorly cleaned work tables or cooking equipment in factories where meat products are also processed. Producers who have not deliberately defrauded consumers would not be subject to prosecution, Fu said.
■ NATURE
Liao roots for Yushan
Minister of the Interior Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) told a rally organized by the National Park Association of Taiwan in Taipei yesterday that everyone — regardless of their nationality — should vote for Yushan (玉山) to help it become one of the new seven wonders of nature. At 3,952m, Yushan is the highest mountain in Taiwan. After a nomination process in which 500,000 people from 224 countries voted, Yushan became one of the 77 candidate sites competing to become one of the 21 finalists. For the past 14 weeks, Yushan has been No. 1 in the mountains category. Voting will end on July 7, whereupon a panel of judges will choose the new seven wonders of nature among the 21 finalists.
■ SOCIETY
Taipei seeks makeovers
In its bid to make itself more attractive, Taipei City will offer more generous incentives to building owners — especially high-rise buildings — who want to give the structures a facelift. Hoping to improve the city’s appearance ahead of the 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo, the city government recently increased the subsidy it provides for renovating an old building’s exterior to 75 percent of the total cost, from 33 percent. The Taipei International Flora Expo, which will be held from Nov. 6 next year, through April 24, 2011, at four venues in Taipei is aimed at showcasing Taiwan’s technical strength in the horticulture industry, its ability to organize major events and its capacity to generate economic activity. Some 6 million people from Taiwan and abroad are expected to attend. Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday the city had subsidized 33 percent of the cost of renovating olds building since 2006. To date, 30 projects benefiting from the incentive program have been completed, he said.
■ SOCIETY
Teens hooked in TV, Web
The nation’s teenagers remain addicted to TV and the Internet on weekends, a survey showed yesterday. The poll conducted by the King Car Education Foundation on 2,418 teenagers in April showed that 96.33 percent of respondents usually watched TV on the weekend, with 36.54 percent spending between two and four hours in front of the tube. More than 95 percent of children said they surfed the Internet on the weekend, with the majority spending a maximum of two hours online. Almost 15 percent said they stayed online for a minimum of six hours during the weekend, the survey found.
Taiwan must first strengthen its own national defense to deter a potential invasion by China as cross-strait tensions continue to rise, multiple European lawmakers said on Friday. In a media interview in Taipei marking the conclusion of an eight-member European parliamentary delegation’s six-day visit to Taiwan, the lawmakers urged Taipei to remain vigilant and increase defense spending. “All those who claim they want to protect you actually want to conquer you,” Ukrainian lawmaker Serhii Soboliev said when asked what lessons Taiwan could draw from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Soboliev described the Kremlin as a “new fascist Nazi regime” that justified
The US House of Representatives yesterday passed the PROTECT Taiwan Act, which stipulates that Washington would exclude China from participating in major global financial organizations if its actions directly threaten Taiwan’s security. The bill, proposed by Republican US Representative Frank Lucas, passed with 395 votes in favor and two against. It stipulates that if China’s actions pose any threat to Taiwan’s security, economic or social systems, the US would, “to the maximum extent practicable,” exclude China from international financial institutions, including the G20, the Bank for International Settlements and the Financial Stability Board. The bill makes it clear that China
‘T-DOME’: IBCS would increase Taiwan’s defense capabilities, enabling air defense units to use data from any sensor system and cut reaction time, a defense official said A defense official yesterday said that a purported new arms sale the US is assembling for Taiwan likely includes Integrated Battle Command Systems (IBCS). The anonymous official’s comments came hours after the Financial Times (FT) reported that Washington is preparing a US$20 billion arms sale encompassing “Patriot missiles and other weapons,” citing eight sources. The Taiwanese official said the IBCS is an advanced command and control system that would play a key role in President William Lai’s (賴清德) flagship defense program, the “T-Dome,” an integrated air defense network to counter ballistic missiles and other threats. The IBCS would increase Taiwan’s
NOMINAL NEWLYWEDS: A man’s family and his wife — his long-term caregiver — are engaged in a legal dogfight over the propriety and validity of the recent union A centenarian’s marriage to his caregiver unbeknownst to his children has prompted legal action, as the caregiver accuses the man’s children of violating her personal liberty and damaging her reputation, while the children have sought a legal option to have the marriage annulled. According to sources, the 102-year-old man surnamed Wang (王) lives in Taipei’s Zhongshan District (中山) and previously worked as a land registration agent. Wang reportedly owns multiple properties and parcels of land worth several hundred million New Taiwan dollars and has ten children. His caregiver, a 69-year-old surnamed Lai (賴), has been caring for him since about 1999,
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