DIPLOMACY
Japan to use ‘Taiwan’ label
The nationality of Taiwanese living in Japan will be listed as “Taiwan” rather than “China” on their residence permit cards and marriage documents starting on July 15 next year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday after a Taiwanese woman protested that the marriage certificate she obtained in Japan specified her nationality as “China.” “Many complaints about this were received over the years and we also filed several protests, which pushed Japan to amend its laws,” said Huang Ming-lung (黃明朗), secretary-general of the Association of East Asian Relations. Japan has designated the nationality of Taiwanese as “China” after Taiwan broke off diplomatic relations with Japan in 1972, Huang said.
ENVIRONMENT
WRA battles land subsidence
The Water Resources Agency (WRA) said it was taking various measures to lessen land subsidence in areas along the west coast and to replenish the underground water table. Agency Deputy Director-General Wu Yueh-hsi (吳約西) said that underground water recharging and flood prevention facilities would help retain floodwater during typhoons and boost the replenishment of underground water. Overuse of underground water for industry and agriculture is a major cause of land subsidence. Wu said the agency has been working on projects in Changhua, Yunlin and Pingtung counties. During the dry season, levees are built along riverbanks to help raise water levels. Meanwhile, as of the end of last month, underground water recharging has increased to about 16.74 million tonnes, with expectations that the figure will increase to 32.7 million tonnes by the end of next month. The agency has also invested about NT$2.5 billion (US$85.5 million) in those counties as well as Greater Tainan to set up 33 flood detention facilities, he said.
SOCIETY
Stability tops mate list: poll
Job stability tops the list of Taiwanese women’s criteria when deciding upon their ideal mate, according to a recent survey conducted by online job bank Yes123. The poll investigated some of the material factors that Taiwanese women prioritize when choosing their life partner. Job stability topped the list at 91.2 percent, followed by home ownership at 71 percent, having a car at 55.2 percent and having more than NT$1 million in the bank at 30 percent. The results also showed that 66.5 percent of respondents said they would choose “bread over love.” Asked if a happy marriage could exist without proper financial support, 69 percent replied in the negative. The online poll, conducted from May 3 to May 11 among women aged 18 to 40, collected 1,223 valid samples with a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.
SCIENCE
New edible fungus created
A research group at Asia University in Greater Taichung yesterday unveiled new strains of pink, purple and yellow Tremella, otherwise known as edible white fungus. Lin Chien-Yih (林俊義), dean of the College of Health Science, said he and his team have developed a pesticide-free method for growing Tremella and a new technology for growing colored Tremella following four years of research. The group has developed optimal greenhouse conditions for growing Tremella that do not require the heavy use of pesticides, which until now has been required to achieve good harvests. According to Lin, the darker the Tremella, the more antidioxidants it contains.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai