The government is planning to establish a foundation to promote democracy around the world, officials said yesterday.
Yang Huang May-hsing (
According to the draft proposal, which has not been completed, political parties in Taiwan would also be eligible for subsidies as part of the move to help consolidate democracy in the country, a foreign ministry official who declined to be named, said yesterday.
The ministry hopes to secure around NT$200 million to NT$300 million from the government to establish the foundation, the official said.
The foundation would also seek donations from the private sector, with an independent board of directors controlling how the money is spent, the official added.
Japan has been planning to create a similar foundation, the official said, but Taipei intends to set up its foundation first.
Many developed countries have similar foundations to promote democracy, such as the National Endowment for Democracy in the US and the Westminster Foundation for Democracy in the UK.
In September, Taipei will host an international seminar of experts from similar foundations to exchange views on the purposes and operations of these organizations, Yang said.
GREATER NUMBER: The sorties might have been a response to the US and the EU expressing concern on Friday over China’s ‘provocations’ in the Taiwan Strait Twenty-five Chinese military aircraft and four naval ships were detected around Taiwan from 6am Saturday to 6am yesterday, including eight airplanes that had crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and another two that entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ). The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft that entered Taiwan’s southwestern ADIZ were a Y-8 anti-submarine plane and a BZK-005 uncrewed aerial vehicle, the Ministry of National Defense said. The aircraft that flew across the median line include two Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets, four J-16 multipurpose fighters and two J-10 jets, the ministry’s official Web site showed. Taiwan’s armed forces monitored the
Mask easing: Teachers are allowed to take their masks off while lecturing indoors, but students should keep theirs on, as COVID-19 measures ease this week The Ministry of Education (MOE) yesterday released new on-campus COVID-19 prevention guidelines, stating that masks can be taken off while exercising, singing, dancing, performing, taking photographs, dining, drinking, video and voice recording, hosting events, presenting speeches and lecturing outdoors. Large outdoor events organized by schools should comply with the mask regulations issued by the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC), it added. The new guidelines came into effect yesterday, and people in Taiwan are no longer required to wear masks outdoors for the first time since May 19 last year. The CECC announced the easing of the mask mandate on Monday, adding that it
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Taiwan and the US on Friday celebrated the second anniversary of a language education initiative that aims to encourage more Americans to learn Mandarin at Taiwanese study centers as China’s language and cultural centers close across the US. “Over the past two years, we have significantly increased Mandarin and English language learning and exchange opportunities. Here’s to the future!” the US Department of State’ Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs wrote on Twitter. Attached to the post was a graphic that showed that the number of US students in the bureau’s exchange programs in Taiwan has increased to about 130 from 90
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