Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang (楊志良) said yesterday he was displeased with the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait’s (ARATS) delayed response to the melamine scandal and will request that the Chinese side come up with more solutions during the meeting between Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Chiang Pin-kung (江丙坤) and ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) in Taichung next week.
“I am disappointed and upset about ARATS’ response. The request will be filed during the meeting next week,” Yaung told legislators at the Social Welfare and Environmental Hygiene Committee yesterday morning.
He said that ARATS’ response to the Sanlu group’s bankruptcy came too late and that more than 12 companies in Taiwan had no means to request compensation for the estimated losses of NT$700 million (US$21 million) they suffered during the tainted milk incident.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英) said the incident took place more than a year ago, when milk powder products from Sanlu, a Chinese manufacturer, tested positive for melamine. The SEF forwarded the compensation request from Taiwanese companies to ARATS on Jan. 5, but ARATS did not respond until June 22. ARATS’ second response arrived last month, when the DOH was told that Sanlu was out of business and had gone bankrupt.
Meanwhile, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) and other officials yesterday briefed Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) on the topics to be discussed during next week’s talks in Taichung.
The briefing was scheduled for lawmakers across party lines, but no DPP members were present.
“Some DPP lawmakers came and left after complaining about the short notice,” Wang said.
Asked how the legislature could exercise its role in overseeing the four agreements to be signed in the talks given the government’s position that the deals will be submitted to the legislature after being signed and for reference only, Wang said that lawmakers have the right to demand deliberation.
“Lawmakers can demand review of the agreements. [However], as the session will end in just over a month’s time, maybe there won’t be enough time to review them,” Wang said.
The agreements will take effect automatically after 60 days.
In related news, deputy chief of the Taichung City police bureau Yu Hui-mao (余輝茂) said yesterday that traffic controls would be enforced from Dec. 18 through Dec. 24.
Taichungguang Road (between Dongda Road and Liming Road) will be closed off and traffic will be prevented from entering and exiting the Taichung Interchange to prevent interruptions to traffic flow along Freeway 1. Drivers will be asked to use the Daya or Nantun Interchanges.
Traffic controls will also be in place for the DPP march on Dec. 20 between 1pm and 6pm.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SHIH HSIU-CHUAN
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
RSS