ENVIRONMENT
Ecology volunteers sought
A township office in Nantou County on Wednesday announced a plan to recruit volunteers to help carry out surveys and take care of trees in the township in the summer. Those interested in the project are required to join a three-day training camp from Wednesday to Friday next week to learn about ways and means to save, trim, preserve and care for trees, Jiji Township Office head Chen Chi-heng (陳紀衡) said. After completing training, they can work just one day or up to two months as volunteers in the township from July 1 to Aug. 31, Chen said. Volunteers are to be divided into two groups, with one group responsible for counting, locating and categorizing trees, and the other for revitalizing tree roots, and fertilizing and watering the trees, he said. The township office would offer transportation and meal subsidies of NT$300 per day to the volunteers, he said. In addition to the volunteer program, Nantou County Commissioner Lin Ming-chen (林明溱) said his county is also mulling closing one traffic lane on weekends, so that it could be used as a bike and pedestrian lane.
SOCIETY
Retired soldiers honored
About 25 retired soldiers who fought in the Second Sino-Japanese War received commemorative medals from President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) during joint commencement ceremonies of five military academies in Kaohsiung on Tuesday. Tung Kuo-chang (董國璋), a veteran who received chemical warfare training, told reporters he remembers clearly the days of exchanging fire with Japanese troops in Bhamo, Myitkyina and Lashio as the Allies reoccupied northern Burma from 1944 to 1945. The 94-year-old said he was very touched to receive the medal, which represents the fact that “the state has not forgotten us and our countrymen have not forgotten us,” the Military News Agency reported. Retired Army lieutenant general Chang Yueh-heng (張岳衡), who graduated from the Republic of China Military Academy in 1965 and served as its superintendent from 1998 to 2002, also attended the ceremony and said “Whampoa [Military Academy] is my life.” Ma said he wanted to express his gratitude and respect to those who devoted their youth, health and sometimes their lives during the war on behalf of the government and their countrymen.
FOOD SAFETY
Firm rejects zongzi check
Taoyuan’s Public Health Department sampled 80 ingredients for making zongzi (粽子, glutinous rice dumpling) traditionally eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival, including small dried shrimp, dried mushroom and zongzi leaves and publicized the results earlier this week. As it turned out, 16 of the 17 zongzi sampled are safe; only one that is sold in Carrefour Taiwan contained more Escherichia coli than the allowable level. And 7 of the 22 zongzi leaves sampled were found to contain more sulfur dioxide than the legal limit of 0.03g/kg, including one from I-Mei and one from Hsin Tung Yang Food Co (新東陽). The department has ordered those food producers to immediately remove the food items from the market. I-Mei Food Co (義美) demanded that local health authorities re-examine the wrap of its zongzi after it had been found to contain more sulfur dioxide than allowed. The sulfur dioxide added in the zongzi leaves is meant to extend its preservation period and it can be decreased by soaking in warm water. People could vomit or have allergy after consuming too much sulfur dioxide.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods