■Diplomacy
Yu meets Singaporean envoy
Premier Yu Shyi-kun received Singapore Trade Office in Taipei Director Ker Sin Tze (柯新治) yesterday and called for the signing of a free trade agreement with the city-state. Yu also called on Singapore to help Taiwan join ASEAN and Ker agreed to convey Taipei's hope to his government. Yu attributed Taiwan's rising unemployment problem to an overall economic decline that has pushed many traditional businesses to relocate to China.The government is seeking to lower the 5.1 percent unemployment rate by providing vocational training, launching public works and increasing domestic demand in an attempt to stimulate the economy, Yu said. Ker, who recently assumed his post, said he is willing to provide Singapore's experience in fighting unemployment and expressed his hope of furthering bilateral substantive exchanges.
■ Technology
Kaohsiung tops Net survey
Kaohsiung City has the highest Internet penetration rate in the nation, at 73.1 percent, according to the results of a survey released yesterday. The survey shows that 9.53 million people in Taiwan had used Internet as of September, 53.8 percent of whom were male. While the Internet penetration rates in 12 cities and counties stood at more than 50 percent, Kaohsiung took the lead with 73.1 percent of the population having used the Internet, followed by Taipei with a ratio of 72.2 percent. A breakdown of Internet users by age shows that 34.4 percent belonged to the 15 to 24 age group, 28.1 percent to the 25 to 34 group, 28.6 percent to the 35 to 49 group, 8.4 percent to the 50 to 64 group and only 0.5 percent over 65. Among household users, 63.4 percent had broadband or ADSL facilities. Households with Internet access spent an average NT$705 per month surfing.
■ Society
Chen praises draftees
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) received a group of alternative service draftees headed overseas yesterday and encouraged them to follow in their predecessors' footsteps by making greater contributions to the international community. Describing draftees who serve overseas as Taiwan's pride, Chen said he was pleased to see that the "Taiwan spirit" is being passed on through these children of Taiwan who use their hands and know-how for devoted service in poor countries. He also presented a national flag to the group and asked them to promote the values of democracy, freedom and human rights in their host countries. "The people of Taiwan and I, myself, admire your contribution and high morals," he said. "As a member of the global village, Taiwan should play its divine role by assisting poorer countries, whether in Africa or other parts of the world."
■ Diplomacy
US soldiers get medals
Taiwan's representative office in the US presented medals to 28 retired US military servicemen on Wednesday in recognition of their direct or indirect assistance in defending Taiwan between 1950 and the 1970s. Representative Chen Chien-jen (程建人) conferred the medals on behalf of the government in a ceremony in Washington. Among those honored was retired general Alfred Gray, a former Marine Corps commander. Gray said he still remembers vividly the courage and fortitude shown by the people of Taiwan in pursuing freedom during his service in Taiwan 46 years ago. Another recipient, Lloyd Evans, said the assistance offered by the US during that period was not only useful in military terms but also helpful to Taiwan's economic and democratic development.
Agencies
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
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