The fragrance of Taiwanese soy sauce has spread to Belize, one of Taiwan’s diplomatic Central America allies, thanks to a Taiwanese technical mission stationed in the former British colony.
Teaching Belizeans how to make soy sauce and cultivate the fungi needed to ferment the soybeans is part of a food program undertaken by the International Cooperation and Development Fund, one of a number of Taiwan-sponsored programs.
Chu Yu-ying (朱育瑩), who is performing his alternative military service with the technical mission, believes the food program will not only help increase Belizeans’ household incomes, but also promote friendship between people of the two countries.
Chu said he remembers thinking how underdeveloped and barren the country was when he arrived in Belize more than two years ago.
However, the mission, in cooperation with Belize’s government, helped change that by organizing soy sauce workshops for women in northern communities, he said.
The mission has now passed on the know-how and techniques needed to make soy sauce, enabling the workshops to produce the condiment on their own. They have even started to market and sell it with the mission’s help.
Chu said he helped establish standard operating procedures for cultivating and preserving the fungi needed to properly brew soy sauce and also built a system for buying the needed equipment and devices.
“I’m really happy when I see those who knew nothing about soy sauce becoming skilled and capable in handling the fermentation process without any assistance,” he said.
According to the technical mission, the food processing program, which also consists of offering food processing courses at local colleges and commercializing locally produced dried fruit, is aimed at improving food production techniques and helping create jobs for women living in the countryside.
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