In a bid to raise public awareness about the nation’s sovereignty over the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島), the Ministry of National Defense has teamed up with the Ministry of Education to allow elementary-school teachers who teach about national defense to participate in the Nansha Camp.
The defense ministry on Tuesday last week published the application rules for this year’s camp, which, apart from the usual admission of three groups of teaching staff and students from graduate schools, include a place for elementary-school teachers who have classes on national defense.
The education ministry is to select 21 participants from among elementary-school teachers who apply to take part in the camp and put them in the fourth and last group to leave for the islands, the defense ministry said.
Applicants to an event scheduled in July last year that had been canceled due to a reconnaissance mission would be put in the third group, the defense ministry said.
Applicants who cannot attend will forfeit their places to those on a waiting list, it added.
The camp is to run from May to July, with each group committing to a learning program of nine days, it said.
On the fourth day, participants will board a military vessel from Kaohsiung Harbor bound for Itu Aba Island (Taiping Island, 太平島) — the largest island in the Spratlys, which has been administered by Taiwan since 1956 — to learn about its history as an outpost and experience the lifestyle of coast guard rangers, it said.
Participants can expect to learn about the nation’s strategic planning in the South China Sea and the history of its forces, while onboard demonstrations and hands-on tasks have also been planned, it said.
Now in its seventh year, the camp is aimed at Taiwanese under 40 years old who do not hold positions in the military and students who attend regular classes instead of night school.
TRAFFIC SAFETY RULES: A positive result in a drug test would result in a two-year license suspension for the driver and vehicle, and a fine of up to NT$180,000 The Ministry of Transportation and Communications is to authorize police to conduct roadside saliva tests by the end of the year to deter people from driving while under the influence of narcotics, it said yesterday. The ministry last month unveiled a draft of amended regulations governing traffic safety rules and penalties, which included provisions empowering police to conduct mandatory saliva tests on drivers. While currently rules authorize police to use oral fluid testing kits for signs of drug use, they do not establish penalties for noncompliance or operating procedures for officers to follow, the ministry said. The proposed changes to the regulations require
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
China Airlines Ltd (CAL) yesterday morning joined SkyTeam’s Aviation Challenge for the fourth time, operating a demonstration flight for “net zero carbon emissions” from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to Bangkok. The flight used sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) at a ratio of up to 40 percent, the highest proportion CAL has achieved to date, the nation’s largest carrier said. Since April, SAF has become available to Taiwanese international carriers at Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport), Kaohsiung International Airport and Taoyuan airport. In previous challenges, CAL operated “net zero carbon emission flights” to Singapore and Japan. At a ceremony at Taoyuan airport, China Airlines chief sustainability
‘ONE CHINA’: A statement that Berlin decides its own China policy did not seem to sit well with Beijing, which offered only one meeting with the German official German Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul’s trip to China has been canceled, a spokesperson for his ministry said yesterday, amid rising tensions between the two nations, including over Taiwan. Wadephul had planned to address Chinese curbs on rare earths during his visit, but his comments about Berlin deciding on the “design” of its “one China” policy ahead of the trip appear to have rankled China. Asked about Wadephul’s comments, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun (郭嘉昆) said the “one China principle” has “no room for any self-definition.” In the interview published on Thursday, Wadephul said he would urge China to
RSS