■NATURE
‘National Day Birds’ on way
Gray-faced buzzard eagles, also known as the “National Day Bird,” will soon pass through Kending (墾丁), the Construction and Planning Agency said in a statement yesterday. To welcome the rare migratory birds, listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, Kending National Park will hold an eagle-watching event that will include various bird-watching and environmental education activities. Appendix II includes species for which trade must be controlled to “avoid utilization incompatible with their survival.” The gray-faced buzzard may be the most famous of 200 bird species that transit through Kending National Park every year as they migrate, and because its migration period usually comes around the Oct. 10 national day celebrations, it is nicknamed the “National Day Bird.” The birds usually rest in Kending for about 20 days from early to mid-October and can be seen flying in groups above the ocean. They breed in eastern China, eastern Russia and Japan and winter mainly in Indochina, Malaysia and the Philippines. Their preferred habitat is low mountains, hills and foothills
■DIPLOMACY
AIT envoy assumes duties
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday announced that Eric Madison assumed his duties as deputy director of the Taipei Office on Friday. “A career foreign service officer, Madison served most recently as economic counselor at the American Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during the past year,” said a statement released by the AIT. “Prior to that, he served as deputy counselor in the economic section at the American Embassy in Beijing.” Madison had previously served at the AIT as the deputy chief of the Economic Section from 1992-1995, the AIT added. In related news, the AIT yesterday announced that all its offices will be closed on Monday to mark Columbus Day in the US. The offices will re-open on Tuesday.
■TRAVEL
MOFA passes on advice
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday reminded all Taiwanese travelers to European countries, especially the Czech Republic, to carry proof of medical insurance at all times in case of random police checks. Chiu Jong-jen (邱仲仁), the director-general of the Department of European Affairs, said the Czech Republic representative office called the ministry last week to ask the government to pass on the advice to all those traveling to the country. Chiu said the message was not targeted at Taiwan specifically but generally to travelers worldwide. He also said random police checks are uncommon but it is always a good idea to carry all relevant documents while traveling abroad.
■DIPLOMACY
Sapporo office to open soon
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said its Sapporo branch office is scheduled to open on Oct. 24, with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony. At a press conference in Tokyo, Representative to Japan John Feng (馮寄台) said the opening of the office holds special significance for Taiwan-Japan ties and the office will be able to serve more than 300,000 Taiwanese tourists that visit Hokkaido each year. Sapporo will be the third branch office under the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Relation Office in Tokyo in addition to Naha and Yokohama. Taiwan also has a representative office in Osaka.
FINAL COUNTDOWN: About 50,000 attended a pro-recall rally yesterday, while the KMT and the TPP plan to rally against the recall votes today Democracy activists, together with arts and education representatives, yesterday organized a motorcade, while thousands gathered on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei in the evening in support of tomorrow’s recall votes. Recall votes for 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and suspended Hsinchu City mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) are to be held tomorrow, while recall votes for seven other KMT lawmakers are scheduled for Aug. 23. The afternoon motorcade was led by the Spring Breeze Culture and Arts Foundation, the Tyzen Hsiao Foundation and the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association, and was joined by delegates from the Taiwan Statebuilding Party and the Taiwan Solidarity
‘NON-RED’: Taiwan and Ireland should work together to foster a values-driven, democratic economic system, leveraging their complementary industries, Lai said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday expressed hopes for closer ties between Taiwan and Ireland, and that both countries could collaborate to create a values-driven, democracy-centered economic system. He made the remarks while meeting with an Irish cross-party parliamentary delegation visiting Taiwan. The delegation, led by John McGuinness, deputy speaker of the Irish house of representatives, known as the Dail, includes Irish lawmakers Malcolm Byrne, Barry Ward, Ken O’Flynn and Teresa Costello. McGuinness, who chairs the Ireland-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Association, is a friend of Taiwan, and under his leadership, the association’s influence has grown over the past few years, Lai said. Ireland is
Instead of threatening tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, the US should try to reinforce cooperation with Taiwan on semiconductor development to take on challenges from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), a Taiwanese think tank said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose across-the-board import duties of 32 percent on Taiwan-made goods and levy a separate tariff on semiconductors, which Taiwan is hoping to avoid. The Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology (DSET), a National Science and Technology Council think tank, said that US efforts should focus on containing China’s semiconductor rise rather than impairing Taiwan. “Without
An SOS message in a bottle has been found in Ireland that is believed to have come from the Taiwanese captain of fishing vessel Yong Yu Sing No. 18 (永裕興18號), who has been missing without a trace for over four years, along with nine Indonesian crew members. The vessel, registered to Suao (蘇澳), went missing near Hawaii on Dec. 30, 2020. The ship has since been recovered, but the 10 crew members have never been found. The captain, surnamed Lee (李), is believed to have signed the note with his name. A post appeared on Reddit on Tuesday after a man
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