NATIONAL DEFENSE
SET News report ‘untrue’
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday rejected a SET News report that a Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force aircraft was spotted traveling near the M503 flight route along the median line of the Taiwan Strait. The PLA Air Force yesterday morning conducted drills that included a Shaanxi Y-8 transport plane traveling close to the M503 route, the first time a PLA plane has traveled along the route, the report said. Air Force Command Headquarters in Taipei dismissed the report as untrue, saying the plane flew west of the median line as part of a training program, but added that it had scrambled a fighter jet in response. The military was in full control of the situation and is fully able to ensure national security, it added.
ENVIRONMENT
Penghu releases 15 turtles
Penghu County Government yesterday released 15 green turtles and hawksbill turtles into the sea before a cheering audience of about 100 elementary-school children, residents and tourists. Nine of the turtles had been rescued by fishermen and Coast Guard Administration personnel after being found injured or having eaten plastic bags, Penghu County Commissioner Chen Kuang-fu (陳光復) said. The others had been born in 2015 or 2016 and taken into care by the Penghu Marine Biology Research Center, Chen said. The shelter at the center has cared for 389 sea turtles, including 327 green turtles and 50 hawksbill turtles, since it was established in 1997. It has released more than 230 into the wild and is caring for 43 more.
TOURISM
Taoyuan eyes immigrants
Taoyuan has introduced new travel packages showcasing scenic spots and festivals to give recent immigrants to the nation a glimpse of the city’s beauty and culture, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) said yesterday. The city is home to about 110,000 migrant workers and 58,000 foreign spouses, Cheng said during a radio interview. The city’s plan was developed in line with the central government’s policy to form closer ties with Southeast Asian nations. For NT$600 for a single-day trip, participants would be able to visit major tourist attractions and take part in local festivals, he said. Taoyuan Association of Travel Agents head Lu Chung-hao (呂中豪) said the plan was targeting immigrants and migrant workers from the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. Taoyuan Tourism Department Director Yang Sheng-ping (楊勝評) said bilingual guides would accompany the tours to help participants gain a better understanding of Taoyuan.
WEATHER
Taipei feels the heat
Taipei yesterday saw the mercury reach 35.2°C at 1:03pm, the highest in the city this year, the Central Weather Bureau said. The weather will be even hotter from today as the nation comes under the influence of southwesterly winds, the bureau said.
EDUCATION
Team win physics medals
A team of eight high-school students won four gold, one silver and three bronze medals at the 19th Asian Physics Olympiad held from May 5 to Saturday in Hanoi, Vietnam. The medal haul put Taiwan, together with Vietnam, in third place at the annual regional event, which drew 188 competitors from 25 nations. Participants took an exam on experimental physics on Monday and a theoretical exam on Wednesday. The team was selected from 1,847 hopefuls at 143 schools.
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