FOOD
Singapore drops requirement
Starting on March 1, exporters of certain beverage and food items will no longer be required by Singapore to provide official documentation that their products are plasticizer-free, the Department of Health said yesterday. Following a similar decision by China on Jan. 5, Singapore will exempt Taiwanese firms from providing certification for five categories of exports — sports drinks, juice, tea drinks, fruit jams or syrups, and tablets or powders — the Food and Drug Administration said. Singapore and China were among the few countries in the region, including Hong Kong and South Korea, that required Taiwanese firms to provide plasticizer-free certification in the five categories after it was reported in May last year that some locally produced items contained industrial plasticizers.
TOURISM
Souvenir show scheduled
The country’s first-ever souvenir show is scheduled to begin in late April in an attempt to boost tourism and tourism-related industries, the event’s organizers said yesterday. The four-day show will feature numerous gifts and food items that are manufactured or produced locally, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council said in a statement. The council said it hoped the show would help local souvenir makers expand to the international market, especially in places where Mandarin is widely spoken. The show, in collaboration with local governments, has interest from attracted more than 150 local exhibitors, who would occupy almost 300 booths. In addition to displays featuring a wide array of food products and stationery items, one-on-one procurement meetings will also be held on-site, the council said. The show will help the country’s tourism industry to help drive the economy with some added value, the organizers said, adding that souvenirs are items that tourists typically enjoy to take home to remember their lovely memories. The show will run between April 19 and April 22 at the Taipei World Trade Center Hall 1, the council said.
DIPLOMACY
Liao appointed AEAR head
Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) assumed the position of chairman of the Association of East Asian Relations (AEAR) yesterday and vowed to do his best to improve Taiwan-Japan relations. Liao, who most recently served as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) secretary-general, said he would commit himself to the position and hold consultations in a wide range of fields to reinforce the relationship between the two countries. He also praised the contributions made by his predecessor, Peng Run-tsu (彭榮次). The AEAR has handled Taipei’s relations with Tokyo since formal diplomatic ties were severed more than 30 years ago.
ELECTION
Clean by-election urged
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday called for a clean election in today’s by-election for the township chief of Huatan (花壇) in Changhua County — the third election of its kind in two years. DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) urged judicial officials to keep an eye out for vote-buying in the region, which was why results of the previous two Huatan Township elections had been nullified. “Inactive investigation would be an encouragement of vote buying and detrimental to Taiwan’s democracy,” Lin told a press conference, adding that the party is confident of victory if the election is conducted fairly.
HEALTH
Flu-related deaths reported
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced yesterday that there had been five new confirmed influenza-related deaths in recent days. The victims were all aged over 60, with the oldest being an 89-year-old woman residing in the south of the country, according to the CDC report. None of the patients, who all suffered from chronic diseases, had received flu vaccinations, the CDC said. According to the CDC’s data, the number of patients rushed to hospitals after showing flu-like symptoms reached about 1,700 on Thursday, down from 2,200 on the same day the previous week. Since July last year, the number of confirmed cases of flu has increased to 1,023, 59 of which were fatal, CDC statistics show.
SOCIETY
Alleged swindler in custody
A man was taken into custody for allegedly swindling millions of New Taiwan dollars by selling Sesame Street dolls and other items which he said had “magic powers,” police said yesterday. The suspect, identified by his surname, Lin (林), was accused of conning about NT$3 million (US$101,000) from a businessman with products including an Elmo doll, a Sesame Street muppet, which he reportedly said was “holy” and could bring luck, the police said. The businessman, who said Lin also asked him to “buy property in the underworld,” later contacted the police after he realized he had been scammed. Lin was also suspected of selling the dolls to other people for up to NT$1 million apiece, as well as touting a variety of products for their alleged healing effects. Police said they would continue to investigate Lin, a temple keeper in Taoyuan County, after they found documents with information on a large number of “followers” from the past several years at his home and at the temple.
SOCIETY
Legislators praise noodles
An award-winning chef on Thursday served members of the California State Legislature in Sacramento with his signature beef noodles and received high praise from the diners. Moreover, the legislature issued a citation in recognition of the work by Hou Chun-sheng (侯圳生), winner of the spicy braised beef noodles category at least year’s Taipei International Beef Noodle Festival, to promote exchanges between California and Taiwan through the famous Taiwanese dish. The citation said that Taiwan maintains close relations with California and is the state’s sixth-largest trade partner. According to Jack Chiang (江國強), director-general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in San Francisco, Hou is the first Taiwanese chef to be cited by the California State Legislature. Such “food diplomacy” allows the country to demonstrate its soft power and helps strengthen trade ties between Taiwan and the US, Chiang said.
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
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
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard