AVIATION
Potholes cause delays
Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s engineering crew found 11 new potholes on a main taxiway connecting the north and south runways, according to airport officials yesterday. As of 11:15am, nine flights had been affected by the emergency repairs to the rain-damaged taxiway, with an average delay of 24 minutes, they said. Downpours this week have caused damage to the airport’s aging runways, which have been in use for almost 30 years. On Thursday, seven potholes were discovered on the south runway. According to Chinese-language media reports, one foreign airline complained that the airport did not have an organized plan for shutting down a runway and said that making complaints to airport authorities was like “a dog barking at a train.” The north runway was shut down for renovations earlier this year with completion scheduled for Dec. 13, but the plan was halted when the company involved abandoned the project because of financial difficulties. The government will re-open bidding for the project next week.
POLITICS
Election register to open
Registration for the Jan. 14 presidential and legislative elections will take place between Nov. 21 and Nov. 25, the Central Election Commission announced yesterday. In the legislative poll, 73 seats in regional constituencies and six among the country’s indigenous population will be up for election, according to a notice published by the commission. There will also be 34 at-large seats, and seats representing overseas Taiwanese determined in proportion to the number of ballots garnered by the political parties, the notice said. A political party must win at least 5 percent of the votes in the election to be eligible for a share of the at-large seats. Also, at least 50 percent of each party’s at-large seats must be filled by women, in accordance with the Constitution.
CULTURE
‘Blowfish’ wins in Geneva
The film Blowfish (河豚), by Taiwanese director Lee Chi-yuan (李啟源), won two prestigious awards on Thursday at this year’s Geneva International Film Festival: the International Federation of Film Critics award and the TITRA Film SA award, which aims to encourage film distribution. Lee said he was overjoyed by the outcome. He said winning the TITRA Film SA award meant Blowfish would be screened in Swiss cinemas, probably next year. Lee was also awarded a cash prize of 5,000 Swiss francs (US$5,500) from Geneva’s city government. Of the 10 films nominated for the International Competition for Feature category, Blowfish was the only Asian offering. Lee’s film is a love story about a lonely baseball coach whose wife has left him and a woman whose boyfriend has cheated on her. Officials at Taiwan’s representative office in Geneva said judges were impressed with the film’s story and technical level.
DIPLOMACY
MOU signed with Italy
The government signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Italy yesterday to promote bilateral cooperation on customs issues, according to the Ministry of Finance. The ministry said in a statement that under the MOU, customs authorities in the two countries agree to strengthen cooperation in the fight against smuggling and make efforts to improve customs clearance efficiency. Italy is Taiwan’s fourth--largest trade partner in the EU market, with bilateral trade reaching US$4.4 billion last year. The MOU provides a legal foundation for an expanded customs partnership, the statement said.
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