■ IMMIGRATION
Book for foreign spouses
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) has published a reference book in seven languages to help foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens adapt to local customs and lifestyles. “The book has been printed in Mandarin, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Filipino, Thai, Burmese and Cambodian for distribution to foreign spouses of local citizens,” NIA Director-General Hsieh Li-kung (謝立功) said. “The book contains all sorts of practical information and useful tips for living.” For these marriages to succeed, foreign spouses need the full support of their Taiwanese family members, Hsieh said. The agency has set up a databank of 394 translators who speak Vietnamese, Indonesian, Philippine, Thai, Burmese and Cambodian, Hsieh said. It has installed hotlines for foreign spouses and foreign expats to offer them counseling and guidelines for living in Taiwan, he said.
■ HEALTH
Swine flu cases reported
Four more clusters of A(H1N1) influenza infections were confirmed yesterday, bringing the number of clusters in the country to 24, a health official said. Lin Ting (林頂), deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control, said that the four confirmed clusters involved nearly 50 people, mainly children and juveniles. This brings to 600 the number of affected patients in A(H1N1) cluster infections, Lin said. Most of the 24 confirmed cluster infections occurred at schools at all levels, kindergartens and children's homes throughout the country, Lin said. The CDC yesterday also reported three more suspected cases of severe A(H1N1) influenza. If these cases are confirmed, the number of severe A(H1N1) infections will rise to 12. With the number of A(H1N1) cases in the country increasing steadily, Lin reminded the public to wash their hands frequently and to cover their mouths when they cough.
■ TOURISM
Liouciou offers free rides
To attract more tourists to Liouciou, also popularly known as Siaoliouciou (小琉球), an isle off the west coast of Pingtung, the township office is offering free round-trip ferry rides to the island. “The offer is for matchmaking party guests and the first 30 newlywed couples who choose to have their wedding photos taken on the island,” the official said. For the third consecutive year, the township office is promoting Siaoliouciou as a “love island” for newly wed couples, focusing on its advantages as a location for wedding photography. One of the promotional events, a matchmaking party, will be held on Aug. 15, targeting tourists between the ages of 22 and 39. The township office is also offering free personal photos as gifts to those who are “matched” during the event. The free ferry service ends on Sept. 12, the official said.
■ EDUCATION
MOU to promote Nepal ties
Academia Sinica said yesterday it would sign a memorandum of understanding with the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) early next month to promote academic collaboration and exchanges between the two countries. Academia Sinica told a press conference it would help NAST with developments in agricultural biotechnology, plant and microbial biology, biodiversity and biotechnology experimentation. Meanwhile, NAST will help Academia Sinica in its Taiwan International Graduate Program, which trains young researchers in a number of fields, including chemical biology, molecular science and technology, bioinformatics and earth system science.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods