DIPLOMACY
MOFA to hold strategy meet
More than 80 heads of diplomatic missions and representative offices will gather in Taipei this month to discuss the nation’s “flexible diplomacy” policy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. Four main strategies will be discussed — further developing the flexible diplomatic policy, enhancing Taiwan’s international image, strengthening risk management in handling diplomatic issues and improving service to the public. The envoys will also meet with businesspeople to gain a better understanding of the development paths and needs of different industries, the ministry said. The meeting, the largest of its kind since 1996, will be held on Aug. 16 at the Civil Service Development Institute in Taipei. Taiwan has diplomatic envoys in the 23 countries with which it has formal diplomatic ties and has representatives based at cultural or economic offices in scores of other countries.
INDUSTRY
Fire destroys shipyards
A massive fire destroyed two shipyards in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮) early on Sunday, but no deaths or injuries were reported. The two yards — “Chang-fa” and “Chuan-hsing” — located next to the Aodi (澳底) fishing port, caught fire before dawn and more than 40 fire trucks and 104 firefighters were dispatched to control the blaze. The fire destroyed most of the two factories, part of their employees’ dormitories, one finished ship, one semi-finished ship and two dragon boats. Flammable materials in the shipyards such as gasoline and adhesives for fiberglass acted as accelerants, said one firefighter, who described the conflagration as “the biggest in Gongliao in 20 years.” The cause of the fire is under investigation.
EDUCATION
Taiwanese win nine golds
Taiwanese students won nine gold medals at an international mathematics contest in Singapore on Sunday. The Seventh International Mathematics Contest drew third to ninth-grade participants from countries including China, South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia. The Taiwanese delegation, comprised of 109 students, gave a strong performance in the competition, in which roughly 40 percent of the questions were posed in English. Chien Chung-an (簡崇安) won the championship in the seventh-grade category. Chien’s grandmother, who traveled to Singapore with him, said she appreciated the efforts of his teachers and was very proud of him. After the award ceremony, the Taiwanese students performed a dance and a magic show. Representative to Singapore Vanessa Shih (史亞平) also congratulated the students at a celebration dinner. Taiwan won six golds at last year’s event.
CUISINE
Chefs going to competition
Fourteen Taiwanese chefs won a preliminary round in Taipei on Sunday of the 4th International Chinese Culinary Competition, ensuring them places in the September finals in New York, organizers said. The three-day Asia-Pacific preliminary at the Taipei World Trade Center centered on traditional dishes such as cuisine from Sichuan, Shandong and Guangdong provinces, the New York-based Chinese-language New Tang Dynasty TV station said. The finals will offer a great opportunity for outstanding Taiwanese chefs to get jobs overseas, the station said, adding that many Chinese restaurant owners in New York are expected to attend the competition to recruit chefs.
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