Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers yesterday called on the government to look into possible political factors in what is regarded as US opposition to Taipei establishing units in its representative offices to promote the use and learning of traditional Chinese characters.
Overseas Compatriot Affairs Commission (OCAC) Minister Wu Ying-yih (吳英毅) told the legislature’s Foreign and Defense Committee that a recent media report said the government’s plan to establish “Taiwan Academies” as part of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Offices in Houston and Los Angeles had hit a snag in Washington.
“The US initially thought we planned to run fee-based -Mandarin-language classes, but the point had been fully clarified. Everything is ready now. We are just awaiting approval from the US so that we can get started,” Wu said.
Wu said that US law forbids fee-charging language classes operated by foreign governments in its territory, a rule that is universally applied to foreign representative offices to protect private language schools.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯) was not convinced and said the reason why the US opposed the plan might be that the name “Taiwan Academies” displeased Beijing.
“Wasn’t it because the name ‘Taiwan Academies’ carries the implication of Taiwan’s sovereignty? I believe China was behind the US’ opposition to the plan,” Tsai said.
Wu said that in his view, the US was a country that has a backbone and was not easily influenced by others.
KMT Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) said the commission could have overlooked the real nature of the problem by saying it was simply a matter of US prohibiting charging fees for language classes.
“To run language courses that charge a fee is not a significant issue. The real reason [for alleged US opposition to the academies] is that the US Department of State has allowed China to set up Confucius Institutes. The OCAC should not simplify the problem,” Chang said.
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai