The Child Welfare League Foundation yesterday said it is hoping to raise NT$18 million (US$580,600) for children from disadvantaged families, money it plans to use to sponsor summer camps, provide meals and subsidize tuition next semester.
A survey released by the foundation yesterday indicates that many children from disadvantaged families might find the two-month summer vacation not only a period of monotony, but hunger — as their families often cannot afford to provide any holiday recreation or replace the free school lunches they receive at school.
The foundation conducted a poll between January and February this year of 866 children from disadvantaged families in Taiwan.
According to the results, 36 percent of the children surveyed said that during the winter and summer vacations they were not able to eat lunch every day, and 12 percent said the meals they were given were often leftovers.
In addition, the daily meal expenses of 27 percent of the children averaged less than NT$100; 56 percent were often alone at home and 32 percent had to prepare their own meals.
Children from many low-income families are sometimes expected to help with family tasks when they are not at school: Of the respondents 57 percent said they must help out with household chores, 31 percent said they had to look after their younger brothers.
Calling on the public to make generous donations, the foundation said that they hope to benefit 3,000 children in this summer’s campaign.
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