President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said on Tuesday that Taiwan’s ongoing efforts to promote solar-powered LED lighting in Africa could bring new life to Taiwan’s troubled LED and solar power industries.
Referring to the “A Light for Africa” project in Burkina Faso that Taipei is sponsoring, Ma said Taiwan’s ultimate goal is to allow all the students from 11,000 elementary schools in Burkina Faso to own one of the Taiwan-provided lights.
“‘A Light for Africa’ can probably create a different industry,” said Ma, who is in the West African country on a state visit.
Ma said the landlocked country has a serious power shortage, with only 15 percent of locations in the capital receiving sufficient electricity supplies at night.
Under these circumstances, each Burkinabe family needs at least one solar-powered LED light, which could translate to commercial opportunities, Ma said.
“A light costing US$10 may be the hope of the future” for Burkinabes, he said.
Under the project, photovoltaic power-generating systems have been installed in participating schools and each student has been given an LED lighting kit equipped with a rechargeable battery that lasts four-and-a-half hours. The children can recharge their lamps at school and take them home to use at night.
Ma toured two elementary schools that have benefited from the project. He later went to the home of one of the students at night and said he was touched to see four children lying on a mat studying under their light provided by Taiwan.
Ma also said he felt ashamed about Taiwan’s wasteful use of electricity after seeing how Burkinabes cherish their scarce resources.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
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