EDUCATION
English centers to expand
The Taipei City Government will expand its English program in line with its goal of establishing one English learning center in each of the city’s 12 administrative districts by the end of next year, the city’s Department of Education said. The centers, to be staffed by foreign teachers, will be focal points for daily English instruction in the city, exposing students to multiple learning experiences by creating classrooms that simulate supermarkets, bus stations and other common venues, the department said. Penglai Elementary School and Bing Jiang Elementary School were the first two schools to join the three-year program in 2009, and they both now have three foreign teachers, it said. Two more centers were set up last year, and four will be established this year and next, it said.
EDUCATION
CETUSA offers refunds
The Council for Educational Travel, USA (CETUSA) on Friday said it would offer full refunds to students who wanted to withdraw from the program in the wake of a scandal related to the US nonprofit group. According to media reports, the US Department of State has banned the council from bringing foreign students to the US to work for the summer after many students who participated in the program last year filed complaints. The ban took effect on Jan. 30. The Taiwanese agent for the council said about 50 to 60 students had paid a visa application fee of NT$5,000 at the time the ban was imposed. The agent has sent out letters informing students of the problem and said it would seek alternative solutions for those still wishing to participate.
CULTURE
Disney joins Lantern Festival
Representatives from Tokyo Disneyland said yesterday they were looking forward to performing at this year’s Lantern Festival, which will start tomorrow in Changhua County. The Disney crew will present a one-of-a-kind parade during its first overseas performance, Tokyo Disney Resort ambassador Eriko Yokota said at a welcoming party in Taipei held by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. Tokyo Disneyland’s “Dream Bus,” a specially designed float, will be part of the parade, Yokota said. More than 100 Japanese artists and musicians, along with about 40 Taiwanese elementary students, will perform at the parade, presenting a mixture of US, Japanese and Taiwanese culture, the Tokyo Disney team said.
FOOD
Steamed buns create jobs
The head of the National Immigration Agency (NIA) yesterday praised a Chinese immigrant for creating job opportunities for other immigrants in Hsinchu County with her famous mantou, or steamed buns. NIA Director-General Hsieh Li-kung (謝立功) thanked Wang Lingfeng (王翎鳳) for launching a popular and reputable online mantou shop that has created jobs for new immigrants who help make the popular buns in Baoshan Township (寶山). Moreover, Wang will be creating more jobs when she expands her product line to include Hakka products, said Hsieh, who was visiting Baoshan to learn how to make the famous brown sugar-filled bun that is the most popular item in Wang’s online shop.Wang, a native of Hainan Island, has lived in Baoshan with her husband for more than three years, officials said, adding that she recently established a Hakka-themed leisure farm.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods