Environmentalists from Taiwan and China met on the outlying island of Kinmen yesterday to discuss emergency preparedness for oil spills, as marine pollution emerges as a major issue following since the launch of direct shipping links across the Taiwan Strait.
The environmental seminar, held at the National Kinmen Institute of Technology, discussed response strategies for possible oil spill emergencies in the Taiwan Strait, one of the world’s busiest sea lanes.
Speaking at the opening session, Fu Kun-cheng (傅崑成), director of the university’s Ocean Affairs Research Center, said that ships plying the Taiwan Strait travel in a north-south direction and that the number of vessels on the route has increased steadily since the opening of direct cross-strait shipping links.
“Against this backdrop, the probability of marine accidents has increased and we are holding this seminar as the first step toward cross-strait cooperation in the field of environmental protection,” Fu said.
He said the seminar should spur the establishment of a cross-strait cooperative mechanism for oil-spill prevention and emergency response mechanisms.
Chen Hsien-heng (陳咸亨), director of the Environmental Protection Administration’s Water Quality Protection Bureau, said that five vessels were grounded in waters off Taiwan’s southwestern coast during Typhoon Morakot in early August.
“Fortunately, there were no serious oil spills from those ships, but this should serve as a warning. With an average of 1,000 ships now plying the Taiwan Strait each day, we should be better prepared to tackle oil spills and other emergencies,” Chen said.
The two-day seminar has brought together some 120 marine pollution experts and academics from Taiwan and China to exchange views and experiences in addressing oil spill issues.
The 40-member Chinese delegation is headed by Li Yi (李義), deputy chairman of the ship pollution commission under the Chinese Institute of Navigation.
Seventeen papers on oil slick legislation on both sides, notable oil spills, emergency response strategies and technologies, and possible cross-strait cooperation on oil spill response will be presented and discussed at the symposium.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS