■ 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.
RSS