■ HOUSING
Public rental plan unveiled
Taipei City will redouble efforts to increase the availability of public rental housing over the next 10 years, hoping that 5 percent of all available housing in the city will be for public rental by 2020. Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said on Friday that 0.65 percent of the city’s housing stock is currently used for public rental housing — the highest ratio in the country but still low compared with Western countries — adding that he hoped the rate could reach 5 percent, as in the US. Hau said the city government was planning to build 200 public rental units of 50m² each at six locations by the end of 2014. The rental fee per unit would be NT$10,000. The city will also release houses obtained from private construction companies taking part in urban renewal projects or other joint development projects for public rental, he said. The city government also intends to renovate idle school buildings, or use old market places to build public rental homes, he said.
■ CRIME
Official seeks tape’s release
Taichung City Councilor Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書) of the Democratic Progressive Party yesterday urged police to make public the surveillance tape of a crime scene in which alleged gang leader Weng Chi-nan (翁奇楠) died in a shower of bullets on May 28. Revelations on Tuesday that four police officers were at the scene — but failed to intervene — have caused controversy and sparked public anger. Huang said the surveillance tape should be made public to help clear doubts about the shooting and allegations of questionable ties between the police officers and underground figures. Asked for comment, Taichung Police Chief Frank Chiu (邱豐光) said the decision was up to the investigators. “Whether to make it public depends on the investigators’ professional judgment,” he said. Chiu, who filled the post on Thursday following Hu Mu-yuan’s (胡木源) resignation over the case, denied allegations by Huang that there was a fifth ranking officer at the scene. Huang has claimed sources told him a fifth officer was caught by security camera.
■ TEA
Nantou focuses on branding
Tea growers in Nantou County said they were planning to create a clearer image for their tea by launching a brand named after Sun Moon Lake (日月潭). Chen Chao-wang (陳朝旺), head of Nantou County Government’s Department of Agriculture, said that while the county’s eight townships produce 62 percent of the nation’s tea, tourists are often unable to tell which tea is from Nantou because the townships use their own branding. Chen said local farmers’ associations had agreed to create an umbrella brand called “Sun Moon Lake Tea.” The county will hold a packaging design contest, with a NT$30,000 cash prize and a medal awarded to the winner. Tea growers still have the option of joining the brand or continuing to market their product separately.
■ CULTURE
CCA mulls China offices
The Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) is assessing the possibility of opening branches in China to better serve Taiwanese companies dedicated to the cultural innovation industry amid more frequent cross-Taiwan Strait exchanges, an official said yesterday. Johnson Chiu (邱正生), deputy CEO of the Taipei Culture Foundation, said that although the plan was still on the drawing board, the CCA could follow in the footsteps of the quasi-official Taiwan External Trade Development Council by opening offices in major Chinese cities and stationing officials there.
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