■CROSS-STRAIT
MAC demands respect
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) urged China on Thursday to respect Taiwanese people, in the wake of the expulsion of a Taiwanese scholar by Beijing authorities. Media reports said hearing-impaired Taiwanese physicist Cheng Yao (程曜), who was teaching at Tsing Hua University in Beijing, was accused of being impolite and speaking too loudly when applying for a visa extension recently. As a result, he was detained for a day and ordered to leave China within one month, the reports said. Asked about the matter in a press briefing, MAC Vice Chairman Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) said the government had no opinion about whether Cheng should be granted a visa extension because that was at the discretion of Beijing. However, when processing such applications, the Beijing authorities should respect Taiwanese applicants, he said. Liu said he believed Cheng, who is an expert in nanotechnology, would be able to contribute to Taiwan’s research in the field if he were to return.
■SOCIETY
Hu voted ‘most doting’
Taichung Mayor Jason Hu (胡志強) was selected as the most doting husband in Taiwan in a recent Internet vote, the results of a survey published on Thursday by Yahoo showed. Yahoo conducted the online voting from Jan. 28 through Wednesday. Hu was voted as the most devoted husband by 7,860 visitors to the Web site, ahead of actor Lee Li-jen (李李仁), with 6,437 votes, and Sean Lien (連勝文), son of former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Lien Chan (連戰), with 448 votes. “Does this mean that I should not run in the year-end mayoral election for the new municipality [that merges Taichung City with Taichung County]?” he asked. Saying that he has not yet made a final decision on whether he will run and that he has not discussed the issue with his wife, Hu said he would ponder the issue when the two go on vacation to the UK this month.
■DIPLOMACY
Vatican invites piano duo
A husband-and-wife piano duo, Rolf-Peter Wille and Lina Yeh (葉綠娜) of Taiwan, has been invited by the Vatican to perform at the 25th founding anniversary celebrations of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, Taiwanese Ambassador to the Holy See Larry Wang (王豫元) said. Wang said he was asked by the council’s chairman, Zygmunt Zimowski, to invite Wille and Yeh as guest performers. Wang said the invitation underlines the Holy See’s recognition of Taiwanese musicians and marks the first time that musicians from Taiwan will perform in Vatican City. The duo is expected to perform music by Bach, Brahms, Edvard Grieg and Francis Poulenc at the function. Yeh also plans to play pieces by Taiwanese composer Chen Yang (陳揚), Wang said. The Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers will host a three-day activity from Tuesday to Thursday to mark its 25th founding anniversary.
■CROSS-STRAIT
First private flight cleared
Taiwan cleared the first direct flight by a private aircraft to China, officials said yesterday. The Gulfstream jet thatgot permission to fly across the Taiwan Strait is owned by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘), one of Taiwan’s richest people, a source close to Gou said. After decades of requiring flights to stop in a third location such as Hong Kong or take lengthy detours for security reasons, Taiwan and China have agreed over the past two years to allow direct passenger and cargo flights. Private jets were included under the agreements, but subject to case-by-case approval.
FAST TRACK? Chinese spouses must renounce their Chinese citizenship and pledge allegiance to Taiwan to gain citizenship, some demonstrators said Opponents and supporters of a bill that would allow Chinese spouses to obtain Taiwanese citizenship in four years instead of six staged protests near the Legislative Yuan in Taipei yesterday morning. Those who oppose the bill proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) demanded that Chinese spouses be granted citizenship only after renouncing their Chinese citizenship, passing a citizenship test and pledging allegiance to Taiwan. The demonstrators, who were protesting at a side entrance to the Legislative Yuan on Jinan Road, were mostly members of the Taiwan Association of University Professors and other organizations advocating Taiwanese independence. Supporters of the bill, led
SILENT MAJORITY: Only 1 percent of Chinese rejected all options but war to annex Taiwan, while one-third viewed war as unacceptable, a university study showed Many Chinese are more concerned with developments inside their country than with seeking unification with Taiwan, al-Jazeera reported on Friday. Although China claims Taiwan as its own territory and has vowed to annex it, by force if necessary, 23-year-old Chinese Shao Hongtian was quoted by al-Jazeera as saying that “hostilities are not the way to bring China and Taiwan together.” “I want unification to happen peacefully,” Shao said. Al-Jazeera said it changed Shao’s name to respect his wish for anonymity. If peaceful unification is not possible, Shao said he would prefer “things to remain as they are,” adding that many of his friends feel
Taiwan has “absolute air superiority” over China in its own airspace, Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) told a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee on Monday, amid concern over whether Taipei could defend itself against a military incursion by Beijing. Po made the remarks in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chiu Chih-wei (邱志偉) on whether Taiwan would have partial or complete air superiority if Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warplanes were to enter Taiwan’s airspace. Po, a retired pilot, said that the Taiwanese military has “absolute air superiority” over PLA
A shipment of basil pesto imported by Costco Wholesale Taiwan from the US in the middle of last month was intercepted at the border after testing positive for excessive pesticide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. Samples taken from a shipment of the Kirkland Signature brand of basil pesto imported by Costco contained 0.1 milligrams per kilogram of ethylene oxide, exceeding the non-detectable limit. Ethylene oxide is a carcinogenic substance that can be used as a pesticide. The 674kg shipment of basil pesto would either be destroyed or returned to its country of origin, as is the procedure for all