DIPLOMACY
Abe thanks Taiwan
Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo yesterday tweeted his thanks to Taiwan for extending its sympathy in the wake of last week’s typhoon, which killed about 80 people and left thousands homeless. Abe retweeted a message posted on Sunday by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), who expressed sympathy over the damage and loss of life caused by Typhoon Hagibis the previous day and said Taiwan stood ready to assist Japan. Abe responded in Chinese and Japanese that Taiwanese are old and valued friends. “We are sparing no efforts on the rescue and restoration work,” he said. “With the sympathy of our old Taiwanese friends, we feel that Taiwan is with us at the time. To us, Taiwan means important partners and friends sharing common basic values.” Abe’s tweet, which was reported in the Sankei Shimbun, drew many responses on Twitter by his followers, who lauded the friendship between the two nations.
TRAVEL
Alishan unveils fall tours
The Alishan Forest Railway will in December run a leaf-peeping-themed train, with photographer Huang Yuan-ming (黃源明) leading passengers on tours of the area’s colorful foliage, the Alishan Forest Railway and Cultural Heritage Office announced yesterday. Huang, who operates a popular Alishan photography blog, will guide passengers to famous scenic spots, including a lookout on Siaoliyuanshan (小笠原山) to take in the fall colors, the office said in a statement. The themed train is to run once per day on Dec. 2, 9, 16 and 23, and is to be limited to 80 passengers on each trip. Tickets, covering train fare, guide fees, meals and commemorative souvenirs, will go on sale 15 days before each train’s departure date and will cost NT$1,200, it said.
EDUCATION
NTNU to offer mixed dorm
National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) on Thursday announced that one of its student dormitory floors would become mixed-sex at the beginning of the next school year in August, in an effort to create a friendly gender-neutral living environment. Most student dormitories in the nation are separated by sex. The university said that male and female students would share the second floor of Dorm 7 in Taipei’s Gongguan area (公館). The second floor would be easier to reach for women, as they would not have to pass other exclusively male floors on their way to their rooms, Office of General Affairs head Mii Horng-sheng (米泓生) said. The idea for a mixed-sex floor was first brought up during a student meeting last year, when a proposal was made for the school to introduce mixed-sex floors in dormitories, the university said. After many discussions between the school’s student association and faculty members, the office on Wednesday finalized the decision.
LEISURE
Six hotels win global awards
Six local hotels won seven awards at the World Luxury Hotel Awards (WLHA) this year, with the Yui-mom Group’s Silks Club in Kaohsiung awarded both the Luxury Art Hotel — Global Winner — and the Luxury All-Suite Hotel — Continent Winner: Asia. The WLHA celebrates hotels around the globe that provide premium facilities and exceptional services. Each year, more than 300,000 travelers vote within a four-week period to determine the winners. The other winners are Grand Mayfull Hotel Taipei, the Hotel Royal Chiao Hsi, the Fullon Hotel Tamsui Fisherman’s Wharf, the Lakeshore Hotel Suao and the Madison Taipei Hotel.
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