WEATHER
Taipei temperature peaks
The temperature in Taipei climbed to 36.3oC yesterday afternoon, the highest in the city so far this year and on par with the temperature recorded on March 18 in Taitung, weather forecasters said. The Central Weather Bureau said Taipei’s 36.3oC was the highest temperature recorded in Taiwan yesterday, followed by 35.6oC in Banciao, 34.5oC in Tamsui, 33.7oC in Taichung and 33.4oC in Chiayi. However, forecasters said that a weather front was expected to reach the nation last night, bringing rainfall and possible cooler weather to northern Taiwan, with highs expected in the low 30s. The chances of rain would increase throughout the week and temperatures are likely to drop, they said.
CULTURE
Malraux Seminar to open
French government and company officials are to attend a seminar in Taipei to share their experiences regarding the development of the film, TV, radio and publishing sectors in France, Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture said recently. The 11th Malraux Seminar, to be held from today to Wednesday, is to cover topics including film-rights trading, international film co-production, e-publishing challenges, French TV and radio production trends, and government subsidies and policies, the ministry said. Jointly conducted by the ministry and the French Office in Taipei, the seminar has invited speakers from the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, the national film agency Centre national du cinema et de l’image animee, electronic media regulator Conseil superieur de l’audiovisuel, film company Gaumont and publishing group Editis, according to the ministry.
COMMUNITY
Mangoes help victims
Organizers of a mango festival held in Taipei yesterday invited the public to buy mango products to raise funds for victims of domestic violence. The festival was the first of its kind held at the Yongkang International Marketplace in downtown Taipei, a popular tourist spot famous for its mango shaved ice. Mango ices were available for sale at the Yongkang Park, with proceeds going to The Garden of Hope Foundation to help domestic-violence victims. Twenty boxes of high-quality mangoes were also auctioned at the festival with the base bidding prices of NT$20,000 (US$668) per box. Auction prices topped NT$200,000 per box several times, organizers said. A total of NT$1.2 million was raised from the festival yesterday and 30 shops in the marketplace have agreed to place donation boxes in their shops to raise funds for abused woman and children, the foundation said.
AGRICULTURE
Residents start farming
Residents of Kinmen County began work as leisure farmers on Saturday in a local government program that promotes the farming of organic produce. Launched last year, the “Happy Farm” program operated by the county’s agricultural research institute allows residents to lease land made available by the institute, which has set aside 60 plots totaling two hectares for the farmers. Those who joined the program last year harvested their crop at the end of last month and have decided to continue farming their 30 or so plots, while some new faces appeared on Saturday to take over the remaining plots. Each plot measures 10m long and 2m wide. At an event held on Saturday, some leisure farmers showed the strawberries and water spinach they grew to county officials visiting the farm.
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