CROSS-STRAIT TIES
SEF head visits China
Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Lin Join-sane (林中森) left for Nanjing yesterday on his second visit to China since assuming the post in September. During the six-day visit, the nation’s top negotiator with Beijing will also visit other cities in central and southern China — including Kunshan, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dongguan and Shenzhen — to meet with Taiwanese businesspeople. Lin said the global economic downturn has led Taiwanese businesspeople in China to shift their focus to the service industry and the two sides are conducting talks on establishing trade in services.
DIPLOMACY
Guatemala given choppers
Taiwan donated two helicopters and a variety of components to diplomatic ally Guatemala on Monday, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help the Central American country boost its ability to respond to natural disasters. Two decommissioned UH-1H utility helicopters were dispatched to Guatemala, while the components will be used to revamp two existing choppers, said Jaime Wu (吳進木), director-general of the ministry’s Department of Latin American and Caribbean Affairs. Wu added that the helicopters would be used to undertake relief and rescue operations during natural disasters. However, a message posted on Guatemalan Vice President Roxana Baldetti’s Facebook page on Monday said Taiwan delivered four helicopters to Guatemala to reinforce the country’s security capabilities and help it fight drug trafficking. Wu said he did not know why Baldetti said they would be used for a different purpose.
HEALTH
Disease info bill passes
A draft amendment to the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法) that passed an initial screening at the legislature on Monday stipulates that the media must correct false information on disease prevention measures after being alerted by the authorities. Under the revision, if members of the media incorrectly report on the outbreak of communicable diseases or prevention measures during an epidemic, they should make immediate corrections after being notified by authorities to prevent adversely affecting disease control measures. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and opposition parties still need to come to a consensus over the bill. Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers said the bill interferes with the freedom of speech, adding that it is targeted at former television pundit Cheng Hung-yi (鄭弘儀), who repeatedly questioned the safety of influenza vaccines on his talk show.
HEALTH
Bananas have toxic residue
Some bananas grown in Kaohsiung were found to have nearly 200 times the maximum allowed level of fungicide residue, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. The bananas tested were found to have 1.93 parts per million (ppm) of kresoxim-methyl, far above the maximum allowed level of 0.01 ppm, the FDA’s southern management center said. Two batches of beefsteak tomatoes sold in Hsinchu City were also found to be contaminated with the banned pesticide fludioxonil, the FDA said, adding that the tomatoes also had residues of the pesticide carbendazim, 4.45 times higher than the allowed level. Carbendazim is quite toxic and can cause birth defects, lymph node tumors and lower sperm counts, but fludioxonil is less toxic and can be flushed from the the human body one hour after ingestion.
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