Donations to disaster relief funds for people affected by Tuesday’s earthquake in Hualien have exceeded NT$600 million (US$20.42 million) as of press time last night.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co yesterday announced that its chairman, Terry Gou (郭台銘), and the company would donate NT$60 million each.
Formosa Plastics Group has donated NT$50 million.
Photo: CNA
The Lin Rung San Foundation of Culture and Social Welfare donated NT$30 million, while Union Bank of Taiwan donated NT$5 million.
Pegatron Corp chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) is to donate NT$30 million and he has asked Pegatron and its affiliated businesses to donate a combined NT$15 million.
The Financial Supervisory Commission announced that it would donate NT$20 million.
Fubon Financial Holding Co and its affiliate Taiwan Mobile Co donated a combined NT$15 million.
Taishin Financial Holdings Co, MediaTek Foundation, China Airlines, ASE Group, Compal Electronics Inc, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store Co and Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank have each donated NT$10 million.
E.Sun Financial Holding Co and China Development Financial Holding Corp have also teamed up with their affiliates to donate NT$10 million each.
Tainan’s Tiantan Tiangong Temple donated NT$2 million and thanked the public for its support after a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck that city on Feb. 6, 2016.
More politicians have joined the list of donors, including New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫), who donated NT$1 million on behalf of his city team.
Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said he would donate one month’s salary after not responding on Wednesday to reporters’ questions about whether he would make a donation.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), Changhua Mayor Chiu Chien-fu (邱建富), Changhua County Commissioner Wei Ming-ku (魏明谷) and Yunlin County Commissioner Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) have also donated one month’s salary.
Many entertainers have made donations, including band Mayday (五月天), which donated NT$5 million; Jay Chou (周杰倫), who donated NT$2 million; and Ella Chen (陳嘉樺) and Stephanie Hsiao (蕭薔), who each donated NT$1 million.
The illustrator Duncan, a Hualien native, donated NT$1 million.
Record label HIM International Music Inc also said its celebrities and employees would donate one day’s salary.
More agencies are also donating goods and supplies to assist earthquake relief efforts.
The Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation donated 2,000 blankets, 2,000 scarves and chicken rice.
Taiwan Fertilizer Co donated 1,020 boxes of bottled water.
CPC Corp said it is to provide the Hualien County Government with free gasoline for its relief efforts.
Several hotels, including Lishin Hotel, Papago International Resort and East Coast Hotel, are also providing free accommodations to search-and-rescue workers and others affected by the earthquake.
Additional reporting by Chung Hung-liang and Lee Ching-hui
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