The government earlier this week repeated its call for Japan to formally apologize to Taiwanese women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II and offer compensation to the women, known euphemistically as “comfort women.”
“Over the past years, our stance has been that Japan should issue a formal apology and offer compensation to comfort women,” said Shyue-yow (周學佑), deputy director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
Chou refuted comments made by former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) in an article in the latest edition of the Japanese monthly magazine Voice. Lee said the comfort women issue was settled in Taiwan and did not have to be raised further.
“It is untrue that the issue has been resolved,” Chou said, adding that Taiwan has never reached an agreement with Japan on the issue of comfort women.
The government is to continue its efforts to help Taiwanese comfort women demand a formal apology and compensation from Japan, he said.
Chou said the government has also taken action to help women who suffered from Japan’s wartime atrocities.
In 1992, the government set up a cross-agency task force to tackle comfort women-related issues and the task force allocated NT$21 million (US$640,791) in compensation to Taiwanese comfort women in 1997, Chou said.
In January 1998, each of the 42 people identified as comfort women received NT$500,000 in compensation, he added.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
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