DIPLOMACY
Paraguayan leader to visit
Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo is scheduled to arrive on Friday for a weeklong visit, the Paraguayan Presidential Office said in a statement on Monday. He is scheduled to meet President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Cabinet ministers, in addition to visiting some industrial parks, the statement said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had invited him to visit several times, but he had been unable to travel because of treatment for lymphatic cancer and the unstable political situation in Paraguay. Lugo began his trip to Asia on Sunday in Vietnam.
SOCIETY
Survey finds work woes
A survey of women found that more than three-fourths (77 percent) of those who left the workforce after marriage said it was difficult to return to work, a poll by 104 job bank showed yesterday. The poll, released to coincide with International Women’s Day, sought to determine whether marriage was a stumbling block in a woman’s career. Fifty-six percent of respondents said they left the workforce after marriage. Within that group, 65 percent said they quit “to take care of a newborn,” while 19 percent said it was “less costly to take care of children by themselves” and 17 percent said they were laid off because of “family and children” factors. Of the women who left work after marriage, 95 percent said they planned on returning to the work. Fifty-six percent wanted to return within two years, citing financial difficulties (53 percent), the need to find self-worth (31 percent) and to “kill time” as children grew up (19 percent).
SOCIETY
Financial literacy ranked
Taiwanese women rank sixth in financial literacy among 14 markets in the Asia-Pacific region, a survey by MasterCard found. Women in Taiwan scored 68.7 on MasterCard’s Index of Financial Literacy, beating their counterparts in Hong Kong (68) and China (60.1). They also outshone their counterparts in South Korea (55.9) and Japan (59.9). The survey was conducted between Sept. 13 and Nov. 11 last year, and asked respondents questions on three major components of financial literacy: basic money management, financial planning and investment. Questions on basic money management included skills in budgeting, amount of savings, and responsible usage of credit. The financial planning section asked respondents about their knowledge of financial products, as well as their ability to make a long-term plan for their financial needs. Investment-related questions involved knowledge of investment risks and investment products. The index score was calculated from the weighted sum of the three components, with 100 as the maximum score in financial literacy and zero as the lowest possible score. Taiwan ranked third in both financial planning (82.4) and investment (61.3) across the region, trailing Thailand and Vietnam. Women in Hong Kong, however, scored better in basic money management than those from Taiwan and China.
CULTURE
Sextet performs tonight
Devil’s Trill, a string sextet featuring prize-winning Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulovic, will perform its first ever concert in Taiwan tonight, the International New Aspect Culture and Education Foundation said on Monday. “This is definitely not a traditional classical music performance,” New Aspect director Hsu Po-yun (許博允) said. “The group breathes new life into classical music.” Tonight’s concert will feature the Violin Sonata in G minor after which the group is named
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