■ TOURISM
PRC bank chief visits
People's Bank of China Deputy Governor Su Ning (蘇寧) arrived in Taiwan yesterday, leading a 22-member delegation to attend a seminar on the development of bills finance markets on both sides of the Strait. Su was scheduled to arrive last week for the seminar but postponed the trip because of the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan from Aug. 30 through Friday. Su said at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport that the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan was “regrettable” because it had “adversely affected peace in the Strait.” Nonetheless, Su said, his presence in Taipei shows that Beijing was still willing to make every effort to maintain the positive momentum of cross-strait relations. Aside from attending the seminar, which is starting today, Su will visit financial and banking institutions and travel to central and southern Taiwan during his stay.
■ SPORTS
Prizes to be auctioned
The Kaohsiung Organizing Committee said yesterday it would auction 7,803 unclaimed prizes from the World Games lucky draws and donate the proceeds to Typhoon Morakot relief efforts. The unclaimed prizes include the grand prize, a house, and the first prize, an imported car, said Emily Hsu (??, chief executive officer of the World Games 2009 Kaohsiung Organizing Committee. The Kaohsiung City Government is conducting a comprehensive review of the games and will publish the results when completed, Hsu said. The auction of the unclaimed prizes will be held at the end of this month after the review is completed, Hsu said. Of the 8,573 prizes that were up for grabs in the World Games draws, only 770 were claimed, Hsu said.
■ FISHING
Sierra Leone to deport 11
A court in Sierra Leone on Friday ordered the deportation of 11 fishermen from Taiwan after their boats were intercepted in the west African nation's exclusive zone, immigration officials said on Sunday. Each of the men was fined US$1,000 and were to be deported yesterday, the officials said on condition of anonymity. The two trawlers carrying the 11 men were caught in late July by a joint Sierra Leone Navy and US Coast Guard team patrolling the country's territorial waters. US Ambassador June Carter Perry recently said at an event in the capital, Freetown, that illegal fishing, drug trafficking and the smuggling of commodities were costing Sierra Leone US$100 million a year. “An enforcement of commercial fishing regulations could be major sources of duly needed income for the government and people of Sierra Leone,” she said.
■ TOURISM
Sun Moon Lake activities
A series of promotional activities will be launched to attract visitors to Sun Moon Lake as mounting concern about a possible swine flu outbreak takes a toll on the region's tourist industry, an official said yesterday. Tseng Kuo-chi (曾國基), director of the Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area Administration, said that average hotel occupancy in the region fell 15 percent year-on-year in the second half of last month. The activities will include a free lakeside concert by renowned violinist Lin Cho-liang (林昭亮) tomorrow and a mass cross-lake swimming contest on Sept. 20. On Oct. 2 and Oct. 3, fireworks shows will be staged near Sun Moon Lake to mark Mid-Autumn Festival. An international marathon will be held on Oct. 11 at Sun Moon Lake, with 8,000 athletes and cheerleaders from home and abroad expected to participate.
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