SAFETY
MOI cautions on fireworks
Ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays when many people choose to enhance their celebrations with firecrackers and fireworks, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) yesterday reminded the public in a press statement that, according to the revised Firecrackers and Fireworks Management Act (爆竹煙火管理條例), children under the age of 12 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian when lighting firecrackers or shooting fireworks. Otherwise, the parent or guardian would be subject to a fine of between NT$3,000 to NT$15,000, according to the law. The ministry also urged the public to purchase only ministry-approved fireworks or firecrackers and exercise caution when handling them.
CULTURE
‘American Space’ launched
The American Institute in Taipei (AIT) and the Taipei Public Library yesterday jointly launched an “American Space” event at the main library on Jianguo S Road in Taipei City, seeking to promote US culture via books, pamphlets and DVDs. “American Space” will also play host to US speaker programs and cultural activities, and offer advising services about studying in the US. The American Space is located on the third floor of the library, featuring more than 600 books on US literature, history, culture and travel. There are also more than 50 DVDs and electronic books.
DIPLOMACY
Slovak schools thank Taiwan
Two schools in Slovakia thanked the government for its donation of information technology equipment at a ceremony in the central European country’s capital on Thursday. At the ceremony, students from an elementary school and high school in Bratislava sang folk songs and teachers demonstrated interactive teaching in a computer classroom equipped by Taiwan to show their appreciation, Taiwan’s representative office in Slovakia said in a statement yesterday. Taiwanese Representative to Slovakia David Lee (李南陽) encouraged students from the schools to apply for scholarships offered by Taiwan in the future and participate in cultural exchange activities between the two countries. Lee added that the IT project was just one of many forms of assistance Taiwan had provided Slovakia. It has also helped set up wireless Internet connections in the old section of Bratislava along the Danube River and helped renovate old castles to help the country strengthen its tourism sector, he said.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods