SECURITY
Selfie sticks, UAVs banned
No objects that could jeopardize security, including selfie sticks and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), will be allowed at the national flag-raising ceremony at the Presidential Office Building plaza tomorrow, the organizer said. The banned objects also include sticks, bats, knives, balloons, pipes and loudspeakers, said Shih Chao-hsien (施朝賢), secretary-general of the Council for Industrial and Commercial Development, which was commissioned to organize the New Year’s Day event. Shih reminded those planning to attend the ceremony not to bring political banners, posters or fliers into the venue in front of the Presidential Office Building, or wear vests with political themes. Umbrellas are not allowed because they might obstruct the view of participants at the event. The flag-raising ceremony is to start at 6:30am, with the restricted area on Ketagalan Boulevard opening to visitors at 4:30am.
TRAVEL
More nations ease visa rules
Republic of China (ROC) passport holders can now obtain visa waivers, landing visas or e-visas to 161 countries and territories after three more countries recently granted Taiwan such privileges, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. Starting tomorrow, ROC citizens will be able to enter Chile visa-free, while Uzbekistan has granted Taiwan landing visa treatment and Rwanda has included the nation in its e-visa system. Despite the visa privileges, travelers who plan to visit the three countries should still have the required documents, such as return tickets and travel plans, ready for immigration checks upon their arrival. The 161 countries and territories that have given Taiwan visa privileges include the US, Japan and all 28 EU member states.
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