GOVERNMENT
Professor joins council
A National Dong Hwa University assistant professor has been named the new deputy head of the Cabinet-level Council of Indigenous Peoples, the Cabinet said in a statement yesterday. Chen Chang Pei-lun (陳張培倫), who works in the university’s Department of Indigenous Development and Social Work, will assume the post that former council deputy head Kao Yang-sheng (高揚昇) left on July 31 to take over as Deputy Taoyuan County Magistrate. Chen Chang, a member of the Bunun group whose Aboriginal name is Tunkan Tansikian, has spent many years researching the rights of indigenous peoples and served as a consultant to the council, the Cabinet said.
TECHNOLOGY
Taipei inks city domain deal
The Taipei City Government yesterday signed a registry agreement with the Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to open the top-level domain suffix “.taipei” for registration in November, according to the Taipei Department of Information Technology. The agreement was signed in the capital by Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) and ICANN board member Wu Kuo-wei (吳國維). Hau said Web sites for the special 1999 phone line for city residents and the public bicycle rental system YouBike would be among the first to adopt the “.taipei” suffix. Yesterday’s deal brings to 14 the number of Taiwanese cities to have secured their own top-level domains, according to the Chinese-language Apple Daily.
GOVERNMENT
Ma vows to help firefighters
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Tuesday promised to give full support to the nation’s firefighters, who have complained of a lack of equipment and a shortage of manpower. Ma made the remarks at a ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) meeting after about 100 firefighters petitioned the Ministry of the Interior on Monday asking the government to improve their working conditions. Six firefighters died in the Greater Kaohsiung pipeline explosions caused by propene leaks on July 31 and Aug. 1, while another was injured on Friday last week in a gas explosion at an apartment in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店). The petitioners called on the government to give them more higher-quality equipment and increase personnel, among other demands, so they can do their jobs better and more safely.
DIPLOMACY
Taiwan role model: Widodo
Indonesian president-elect Joko Widodo has cited Taiwan as a role model for his country, saying that advances in Taiwan’s human resources have led to high productivity. Manpower development is the biggest challenge facing Indonesia, Widodo said at a forum in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, on Monday, describing the situation as a matter that must be dealt with, according to a report on detik.com, an Indonesian online news portal. Widodo said he shares the views of Indonesian writer Mochtar Lubis on the weaknesses of Indonesians, including hypocrisy, lack of a sense of responsibility, being superstitious and lacking courage. Another characteristic needing work is a lack of attention to quality, Widodo said. He said he relates to that well, based on his past experience working in furniture exports, which left him with an impression of the little importance Indonesians attach to quality. However, it is possible for Indonesia to catch up with countries such as Taiwan, Singapore and Japan, whose people are highly productive, through education, the Jakarta governor said. The changes are vital to the country’s productivity and competitiveness, he said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
UNDER PRESSURE: The report cited numerous events that have happened this year to show increased coercion from China, such as military drills and legal threats The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) aims to reinforce its “one China” principle and the idea that Taiwan belongs to the People’s Republic of China by hosting celebratory events this year for the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the “retrocession” of Taiwan and the establishment of the UN, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said in its latest report to the Legislative Yuan. Taking advantage of the significant anniversaries, Chinese officials are attempting to assert China’s sovereignty over Taiwan through interviews with international news media and cross-strait exchange events, the report said. Beijing intends to reinforce its “one China” principle
A total lunar eclipse, an astronomical event often referred to as a “blood moon,” would be visible to sky watchers in Taiwan starting just before midnight on Sunday night, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said. The phenomenon is also called “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange hue it takes on as the Earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, completely blocking direct sunlight from reaching the lunar surface. The only light is refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere, and its red wavelengths are bent toward the moon, illuminating it in a dramatic crimson light. Describing the event as the most important astronomical phenomenon
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