DEFENSE
Navy considering upgrades
The navy is planning to upgrade its fleet of Sikorsky S-70C anti-submarine warfare helicopters in an effort to maintain the nation’s self-defense capabilities, a military source confirmed yesterday. The official’s remarks confirmed a report in yesterday’s edition of the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper), which cited an unnamed military official as saying the military has decided to spend about NT$800 million (US$25.3 million) to upgrade the navy’s S-70Cs. In order to bolster the navy’s anti-submarine warfare capabilities in the face of the military threat posed by China, the armed forces have decided to commission the US’ Sikorsky Aircraft Corp to carry out the program, which is to upgrade the engines on some of the helicopters and add emergency lighting equipment to all S-70Cs, the report said. The program is expected to be completed in September 2017, according to the report. Meanwhile, the navy said it is considering purchasing Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk multi-mission helicopters to replace its aging fleet of MD Helicopters MD 500 aircraft, although no final decision has yet been made.
CULTURE
TECO Jakarta offers classes
Due to rapid growth in marriages between Taiwanese men and Indonesian women, Taiwan’s representative office is offering a weekly class to help would-be Indonesian spouses better adapt to their new life in Taiwan. Taipei Economic and Trade Office (TECO) in Indonesia Representative Chang Liang-jen (張良任) said the number of Taiwanese-Indonesian marriages has been rising, which indicates improving relations between the two nations. The class offered by the TECO Jakarta aims to help Indonesian spouses gain an understanding of Taiwan before they enter the nation to help them adapt to Taiwanese life and culture. The class provides useful tips and key information about different aspects of life in Taiwan through films, group discussions and the exchange of opinions, he said, adding that the topics covered range from immigration and national health insurance laws to counseling services aimed at helping them resolve problems they might encounter. According to government statistics, there have been more than 36,000 marriages between Taiwanese and Indonesians as of the end of June.
ENVIRONMENT
Court finds councilors guilty
The Yunlin District Court yesterday imposed prison sentences for two Yunlin County councilors responsible for the illegal disposal of bottom ash from the Formosa Plastics Group’s naphtha cracker. Independent councilors Huang Ching-yi (黃進一) and Lee Chien-chih (李建志), who both ran waste processing firms, were given jail terms of five years and eight years and two months respectively. The two were charged with breaching the Waste Disposal Act (廢棄物清理法) by dumping at least 20,000 tonnes of the waste across central and southern areas including Yunlin, Changhua County and Kaohsiung. Lee was also charged with illegal tax sheltering and Huang with extortion. In addition, the court ruled that the two councilors’ waste processing firms be fined a combined total of NT$40 million. Two shareholders, Yunlin County Council Secretary-General Chang Yao-wen (張耀文) and county councilor Weng Shui-shang (翁水上), were each sentenced to prison terms of two years and four months. The verdicts can be appealed.
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