■ FLORA
Taichung hosts flower show
The Council of Agriculture announced yesterday that 30 hectares of land showcasing more than 70 types of flowers will be on display in Taichung County’s Sinshe Township (新社) starting this weekend. Organizers said they expected the event, which will run for a month starting on Saturday, to draw more than 1 million visitors. Yang Chuo-chi (楊佐琦), a representative of the organizers, advised the public to come on weekdays to avoid the weekend traffic. The council expects the event to bring in more than NT$1 billion (US$31 million) in business opportunities.
■ SOCIETY
Man snares rats for mom
A man has been catching rats for 24 years so that his mother can eat what she considers a delicacy at every meal, local media reports said. The man, surnamed Hsiao (蕭), 37, is a farmer in Houpi (後壁), Tainan County, the Chinese-language United Daily News said. It said Hsiao started catching rats when he was 13 when his mother had surgery to remove gallstones. Hsiao’s family was poor and had no money to buy food, so his father taught him to catch rats in the sugarcane fields to make soup. Hsiao’s mother said that at first she was afraid to eat it, but she forced herself and eventually fell in love with the delicacy.
■ MEDICINE
ART attracts foreign couples
The number of foreign couples traveling to Taiwan to seek medical help to enable them to conceive has been growing steadily thanks to the nation’s advanced development of assisted reproductive technology (ART), said Lee Mao-sheng (李茂盛), a gynecologist and obstetrician. Lin said more than 100 foreign couples visit each year for ART help, generating more than NT$40 million (US$1.23 million).
■ POLITICS
DPP pans Hsinchu mayor
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused Hsinchu Mayor Lin Junq-tzer (林政則) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) of agreeing with Beijing that Taiwan is a province of China. Lin was recently a guest at the unveiling of a monument on Pingtan Island in China’s Fujian Province, just 68km from Taiwan. The inscription on the monument described China as the “motherland” and Taiwan as a subordinate island. Lin said he did not know in advance what was written on the monument and was only a guest. “The Chinese consider the People’s Republic of China their motherland, but for Taiwan, our mother country will forever be the Republic of China,” he said. DPP lawmakers were not convinced, accusing Lin of silently assenting to please Beijing for his own personal gain. “It is impossible that Lin did not know the inscription before the ceremony,” DPP lawmaker Su Cheng-ching (蘇震清) said. “It is a shame that a Taiwanese local government chief did not even have the courage to protect the dignity of Taiwan and its people.”
■ POLITICS
Hau has challenger
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Taipei City Councilor Yang Shih-chiu (楊實秋) yesterday announced his bid to run in next year’s mayoral election. Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), also of the KMT, said he respected and welcomed Yang’s decision, adding that the party would select its candidate democratically. Yang yesterday accused Hau of distancing himself from his predecessor, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), and adopting a campaign strategy of attacking Ma to boost his own popularity. Hau said he would work to improve his approval rating, but would not distance himself from Ma for political gain. He said Ma knew that he could not distance himself from his predecessor because Ma’s projects as mayor are ongoing.
■ HEALTH
Vaccine under way
Taiwan will work with Canada on a vaccine to protect Taiwanese and other Asians from the pneumococcus bacteria that causes pneumonia, an official said yesterday. “The cooperative project is expected to come to fruition in five to 10 years,” Academia Sinica President Wong Chi-huey (翁啟惠) said. Although an existing Canadian vaccine is used in Europe, the Asian strain of the bacteria is different, Wong said. As many Taiwanese children and elderly have developed pneumonia after being infected with pneumococcus, Wong said Taiwan looked forward to producing a vaccine suitable for Taiwan and other Asian countries.
■ POLITICS
Wu calls Ma ‘chairman’
Former KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday referred to President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) as “chairman” when he asked a Chinese official to convey Ma’s greetings to Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤). While meeting Liang Baohua (梁保華), head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Jiangsu Province, Wu referred to Ma as “chairman” throughout his speech. Only once did he refer to Ma as “yuan shou” (元首) or “head of state.” Wu asked Liang to pass on “Chairman Ma’s” regards to Hu, who doubles as CCP general secretary. Liang is the first CCP provincial committee secretary and the highest-ranking CCP official to visit Taiwan. His delegation is also the biggest to visit, with more than 3,000 people. The delegation is expected to make purchases in Taiwan worth up to US$2 billion.
■FLORA
Taichung hosts flower show
The Council of Agriculture announced yesterday that 30 hectares of land showcasing more than 70 types of flowers will be on display in Taichung County’s Sinshe Township (新社) starting this weekend. Organizers said they expected the event, which will run for a month starting on Saturday, to draw more than 1 million visitors. Yang Chuo-chi (楊佐琦), a representative of the organizers, advised the public to come on weekdays to avoid the weekend traffic. The council expects the event to bring in more than NT$1 billion (US$31 million) in business opportunities.
■SOCIETY
Man snares rats for mom
A man has been catching rats for 24 years so that his mother can eat what she considers a delicacy at every meal, local media reports said. The man, surnamed Hsiao (蕭), 37, is a farmer in Houpi (後壁), Tainan County, the Chinese-language United Daily News said. It said Hsiao started catching rats when he was 13 when his mother had surgery to remove gallstones. Hsiao’s family was poor and had no money to buy food, so his father taught him to catch rats in the sugarcane fields to make soup. Hsiao’s mother said that at first she was afraid to eat it, but she forced herself and eventually fell in love with the delicacy.
■MEDICINE
ART attracts foreign couples
The number of foreign couples traveling to Taiwan to seek medical help to enable them to conceive has been growing steadily thanks to the nation’s advanced development of assisted reproductive technology (ART), said Lee Mao-sheng (李茂盛), a gynecologist and obstetrician. Lin said more than 100 foreign couples visit each year for ART help, generating more than NT$40 million (US$1.23 million).
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
GLOBAL: Although Matsu has limited capacity for large numbers of domestic tourists, it would be a great high-end destination for international travelers, an official said Lienchiang County’s (Matsu) unique landscape and Cold War history give it great potential to be marketed as a destination for international travelers, Tourism Administration Director General Chen Yu-hsiu (陳玉秀) said at the weekend. Tourism officials traveled to the outlying island for the Matsu Biennial, an art festival that started on Friday to celebrate Matsu’s culture, history and landscape. Travelers to Matsu, which lies about 190km northwest of Taipei, must fly or take the state-run New Taima passenger ship. However, flights are often canceled during fog season from April to June. Chen spoke about her vision to promote Matsu as a tourist attraction in
PAWSITIVE IMPACT: A shop owner said that while he adopted cats to take care of rodents, they have also attracted younger visitors who also buy his dried goods In Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕), cats lounging in shops along Dihua Street do more than nap amid the scent of dried seafood. Many have become beloved fixtures who double as photography models, attracting visitors and helping boost sales in one of the capital’s most historic quarters. A recent photo contest featuring more than a dozen shop cats drew more than 2,200 submissions, turning everyday cat-spotting into a friendly competition that attracted amateur and professional photographers. “It’s rare to see cats standing, so when it suddenly did, it felt like a lucky cat,” said Sabrina Hsu (徐淳蔚), who won the NT$10,000 top prize in
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
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