DIPLOMACY
US denies policy change
The US Department of State on Friday said that Washington’s policy toward Taiwan has not changed, in response to Taipei’s concerns over a map on its Web site in which Taiwan and China have the same color. “The United States remains committed to our one-China policy based on the three joint communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act,” a department spokesperson wrote in an e-mail to the Central News Agency. “We consider Taiwan to be a vital partner, a democratic success story and a force for good in the world. Taiwan shares our values, has earned our respect and continues to merit our strong support,” the e-mail said. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said the ministry had asked its representative office in the US to reach out to the State Department for clarification and had received an explanation in which it assured the ministry that the US’ stance on Taiwan remained unchanged.
Photo: screen grab from www.state.gov
CHINESE MEDICINE
Doctor touts ADHD treatment
Lin Shun-ku (林舜穀), a traditional Chinese medicine doctor at Taipei City Hospital, on Thursday said that electroacupuncture derived from traditional Chinese medicine combined with behavioral therapy prescribed by Western medicine eases most symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and reduces the rate of its recurrence. Lin made the remarks at a news conference hosted by the National Union of Chinese Medical Doctors’ Association, at which practitioners shared their experiences in treating ADHD through a combination of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medical approaches. A 2010 study published in China showed that ADHD symptoms could be eased through the use of electroacupuncture and behavioral therapy, Lin said. The study looked at 180 preschool children with ADHD in a double-blind trial. The children were treated six times a week for 12 weeks and displayed significant improvement, with only 20 percent experiencing a relapse after half a year, Lin said. Similar treatment is already available in Taiwan, he said, adding that it has only a minimal effect on the liver and kidneys.
SOCIETY
Dutch priest honored at 96
Anthony Pierrot, a Catholic priest from the Netherlands, has been named an honorary citizen of Yunlin County for contributing to the county for more than 60 years. At Pierrot’s 96th birthday party at St Joseph’s Hospital in Huwei Township (虎尾) on Friday, Yunlin County Commissioner Lee Chin-yung (李進勇) presented him with a certificate and praised him for the many years he has spent caring for Taiwan’s needy. Born in 1923 in the Netherlands, Pierrot has supported healthcare and made significant contributions to Yunlin since he came to Taiwan in 1954. Together with Father George Massin from Belgium, he established St Joseph’s Hospital 60 years ago. He later set up a social services office and the St Joseph Social Welfare Foundation to care for women, children and the elderly, and continues to serve others to this day despite his age.
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