■ECONOMICS
Debt relatively low: MOF
The central government’s outstanding debt totaled NT$3.887 trillion (US$120.3 billion) as of the end of August, relatively low based on the country’s GDP, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said yesterday. “The total debt as a percentage of GDP is 32.21 percent, making Taiwan’s financial status relatively healthy when compared with that of the US, Japan and other countries,” the ministry said in a statement. On Thursday, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕), citing figures from the Ministry of Audit, said that if liabilities such as pension and insurance obligations were factored in, the government’s overall debt actually stood at NT$19.722 trillion at the end of last year, or NT$860,000 per capita. Focusing strictly on the current national debt without commenting directly on future liabilities, the ministry said it had accumulated as a result of borrowing to finance major infrastructure projects to advance national development.
■SPORTS
Stadium’s future in question
With the high maintenance fees for the World Games Main Stadium in Kaohsiung City, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Nai-hsin (蔣乃辛) on Thursday questioned whether the Sports Affairs Council (SAC), which has taken over management of the stadium, can afford to operate it. Chiang said the SAC had set up a management division in charge of the stadium’s operations and that personnel expenses and maintenance fees are estimated to be as high as NT$250 million, while the SAC has been granted a budget of only NT$70 million. In response, SAC Minister Tai Hsia-ling (戴遐齡) said the council would spare no efforts to host large-scale international events to make good use of the equipment and facilities.
■SCIENCE
France honors ex-minister
The French government awarded former National Science Council chairman and Minister of Health Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) the Officer of the Order of the Academic Palms on Thursday night in Taipei for his contributions in science and his work promoting France-Taiwan scientific cooperation. French representative to Taiwan Patrick Bonneville praised Chen as a highly respected scientist who played a major part in bilateral research cooperation. With more than 400 joint projects, France is Taiwan’s second largest foreign research partner, following the US.
■TRAVEL
AIT begins visa lottery
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) announced yesterday that the 2011 US Diversity Immigrant Visa (DV) lottery would run from today to Dec. 1. “System delays in the past caused by extremely heavy demand in the final days of the registration period have resulted in the failure of some applicants to register for the program,” the AIT said in a press release. “While the system is being upgraded, overwhelming demand could cause delays and therefore it is very important to apply early, as no entries will be accepted after 1am Dec. 1, Taiwan time, regardless of whether there are system delays during the registration period … The only source for complete and authoritative information on eligibility requirements and application procedures is available at www.dvlottery.state.gov.” It also said that all applications must be submitted online. “People born on the islands of Taiwan and Penghu are eligible to participate in the DV program, while those born elsewhere should check the link www.dvlottery.state.gov,” it said.
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