■DEFENCE
Ma respects MND decision
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) fully understands and respects the Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) decision to stick to its plan to procure 60 US-built Blackhawk helicopters, MND spokesman Yu Sy-tue (虞思祖) said yesterday. Ma expressed his understanding of the ministry’s plan after hearing several high-ranking military officials defend the need for the purchase based on military considerations, Yu said. Ma instructed the MND to consult the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) further on the allocation and use of the helicopters after they are acquired from the US, Yu added. The MND announced on Sunday that it would proceed with the procurement of 60 Blackhawks, 15 of which will be allocated to the MOI to beef up disaster relief capabilities. The MND’s decision was a departure from Ma’s announcement on Aug. 18 that the military would buy only 45 of the 60 Blackhawks originally ordered from the US and reallocate the remaining NT$10 billion (NT$303 million) budget for the Blackhawks to buy disaster relief choppers and related equipment.
■SCIENCE
Taiwan to host science fest
Taiwan will host the Third International Earth Science Olympiad on Sept. 14 and include the 921 Earthquake as part of the themes of the competition, the Ministry of Education said. Su Te-hsiang (蘇德祥), director of the ministry’s Department of Secondary Education, said that about 130 students and their advisers from 15 countries were expected to arrive in Taiwan for the competition. Students will be required to take written tests and measure the changes in the land after the earthquake during a field trip to Nantou’s Train and Earthquake Memorial Park, Su said. Foreign students will have the opportunity to understand national disasters’ impact on people and the natural environment during the trip, he added.
■DIPLOMACY
Israeli envoy greets Muslims
Raphael Gamzou, the head of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei (ISECO), recently sent greetings to the Muslim community in Taiwan at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. According to an ISECO press release, Gamzou, Israel’s representative to Taiwan, sent a letter to the head of the Muslim community in Taiwan, conveying “warm greetings of health, prosperity and peace.” In addition to his greetings of “Ramadan Karim” to A-Hung Ma Hsiao and his family, “Gamzou would like to greet the entire Muslim community of Taiwan, in the name of the citizens of Israel — Jews and Muslims alike,” the letter stated. The letter was meant as a goodwill gesture aimed at bridging cultural and religious barriers and easing longstanding tensions between Muslims and Jews, it said. Ramadan takes place during the ninth month of the Islamic calendar when Muslims do not eat or drink anything from dawn until sunset.
■ENTERTAINMENT
Group scoops honors
Taiwanese hip hop group Kou Chou Ching (拷秋勤) won awards for “Best Remix Song” and “Best Music Group” at the US’ Just Plain Folks Music Awards on Sunday, the first Taiwanese artists to be honored by the music awards program. The group’s album Kou!! It’s Coming Out!!! which received four nominations, also placed second for “Best Asian Album” and fifth for “Best Asian Song.” Kou Chou Ching mix traditional nanguan, Taiwanese chants, Taiwanese opera, hakka eight note music, Taiwanese and Aboriginal songs with hip hop, reggae and other popular music styles.
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