DEVELOPMENT
Donations praised by WTO
The WTO has praised Taiwan’s donations to programs aimed at helping emerging countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said on Friday. In a statement issued on Jan. 21, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo welcomed Taiwan’s contributions and said they were playing a role in helping developing and countries strengthen their links with world markets, the ministry said. Azevedo was referring to a memorandum of understanding Taiwan signed with the WTO Secretariat to donate US$80,000 a year for three years from last year to next year to a plant and animal health initiative through the WTO’s Standards and Trade Development Facility. The agreement, which the ministry said underscores Taiwan’s support for the development of a multilateral trade system, helps developing countries build their capacity to implement international sanitary and phytosanitary measures.
DEFENSE
Radar disruption alleged
A new aerial listening station set up by China in its coastal Fujian Province appears to be aimed at disrupting Taiwan’s PAVE PAWS early-warning radar system, according to a report by Canada-based monthly Kanwa Defense Review. The new base in Huian is equipped with a phased array radar that is pointed directly at Taiwan’s PAVE PAWS in Hsinchu, just 240km away across the Taiwan Strait, the magazine said. Kanwa founder and editor-in-chief Andrei Chang (張毅弘) said the deployment is part of China’s plan to monitor, record, analyze and disrupt PAVE PAWS signals. Japanese defense technology analyst Tomohiko Tada agreed with Chang’s analysis, saying that because the phased array radar in Huian is very close to Taiwan’s PAVE PAWS, it can cause intermittent disruption to the system by intentionally using the same wave band, Tada said. However, China is unlikely to completely disrupt or paralyze the PAVE PAWS, he added.
TRADE
US APEC official to visit
Senior US APEC official Robert Wang (王曉岷) is set to visit Taiwan to discuss trade and economic issues, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said yesterday. During his visit from Saturday to Tuesday next week, Wang is to “meet with Taiwan officials and business leaders to exchange views on this year’s APEC agenda and other trade and economic matters of mutual concern,” the AIT said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Wang is scheduled to meet with former vice president Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), Minister of Foreign Affairs David Lin (林永樂) and Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng (鄧振中). They will discuss the development of economic integration in the Asia-Pacific and initiatives Taiwan and the US plan to push for under APEC, the ministry said.
SCIENCE
Exhibition focuses on light
An exhibition dedicated to the different scientific aspects of light is to run until September in celebration of the International Year of Light, as designated by the UN, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said yesterday. The museum is an appropriate host for the exhibition, as astronomy itself is considered “archeology of light,” said museum curator Chen An-li (陳岸立), who attributed modern astronomy research to the application of light. Events include a simulation of the Big Bang, as well as exhibits on sunlight and energy. The event is to run until Sept. 6. The UN in 2013 designated this year as the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies.
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