EDUCATION
Taiwan studies course set
The Centre of Taiwan Studies at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) is to hold its annual Taiwan Studies Summer School from June 18 to June 20 in London. This year’s key themes include the Sunflower movement, history education in Taiwan, introduction on the Resources for Chinese Studies in Taiwan and the legal basis of Taiwan’s claim to the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The program is to feature lectures by experts and academics in the fields of Taiwan and China studies, including Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉), associate research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Political Science, Centre of Taiwan Studies director Dafydd Fell and former Taipei Times deputy national news editor Michael Cole. The event is cosponsored by Taiwan’s National Central Library’s Center for Chinese Studies and will also include “research training seminars” for students interested in conducting research in the field of Taiwan studies, which are to provide “an excellent opportunity for postgraduate students to receive feedback from academics working in various fields,” according to the center. Researchers or students wishing to attend the seminars can register via the center’s Web site and provide an abstract for their proposed topic and prepare a short presentation. The seminars are to be held on the morning of June 20. Attendance at the summer school is free, but requires prior registration. For more information and the participation registration form, visit soas.ac.uk/taiwanstudies/summerschool/. SOAS offers the only master’s program in Taiwan Studies outside of Taiwan, which includes “advanced interdisciplinary courses on Taiwan’s society, culture, politics, language and economics,” according to its Web site. In addition, it organizes regular lecture series, film screenings and discussions on topics related to Taiwan.
DIPLOMACY
Chow trip being planned
Activities for a trip by first lady Chow Mei-ching (周美青) next month to Japan are still being planned, Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) said yesterday. He said the arrangements for Chow to visit to attend the opening of a Tokyo exhibition of treasured Chinese artifacts belonging to the National Palace Museum have not been affected by a recent foot injury she suffered. The museum will exhibit 231 artifacts at the Tokyo museum and a later exhibition at the Kyushu National Museum. The National Palace Museum’s Chiayi County branch is scheduled to hold an exhibition of 150 artifacts from the two Japanese museums in 2016. Lin made the remarks at a meeting of the Legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee.
ENTERTAINMENT
Twins appear on US show
Twins Zony (謝佐妮) and Yony (謝佑妮), who gained fame on YouTube with a series of dance videos, were set to dance their way onto the Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday. “These two are flying all the way from Taiwan to be on my show. The people on their 14-hour flight sure are lucky,” DeGeneres tweeted on Tuesday. The tweet includes a link to a short video in which the excited six-year-old girls introduce themselves and greet the US comedian. The twins gained fame in Taiwan after a video of them dancing to South Korean girl group Crayon Pop’s song Bar Bar Bar dressed in scooter helmets and tutus was posted on YouTube in February. The video has since gained more than 1.6 million hits on YouTube and the girls have been invited to perform on Taiwanese TV shows.
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