ENVIRONMENT
Fronts boost water stocks
The threat of water shortages in Greater Tainan has been alleviated at least temporarily thanks to several weather fronts last month that have filled southern Taiwan’s reservoir catchment areas, the South Region Water Resources Office said. Nanhua Reservoir (南化水庫), which provides most of Greater Tainan’s industrial and domestic water, is at 80 million tonnes, which is 83 percent of its total capacity. Meanwhile, in Chiayi the water levels at the Zengwun Reservoir (曾文水庫) and the Wushantou Reservoir (烏山頭水庫) have a combined total of 250 million tonnes, 45 percent of their total capacity. The Water Resouces Agency has color-coded the situation as “blue,” which represents normal water storage levels. Irrigation of the year’s second rice crop was scheduled to begin yesterday, which is expected to require approximately 400 tonnes of water in Greater Tainan and Chiayi.
CULTURE
Exhibit receives US award
An interactive art exhibit created by the National Palace Museum has won an award from the American Alliance of Museums, the museum said. Qianlong C.H.A.O. New Media Art Exhibition, a mix of historic artifacts with contemporary culture, has received a Silver Muse Award for interpretive interactive installations, the museum said. The interactive display combines items that belonged to the Qianlong emperor (乾隆, 1735 to 1799) with modern-day street culture, cosplay, DJs, anime, electronic music, avant-garde fashion and video games. The awards recognize outstanding achievement in museum media. The Qianlong exhibit also won a platinum award in April at the 47th WorldFest-Houston International Film and Video Festival, the third-oldest independent film festival in the US.
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