■ Foreign laborers
Taoyuan hosts Songkran fest
The annual Thai Songkran festival in which people spray water or throw buckets of water on each other to wash away the misfortune of the past year and usher in the new year will kick off in Taoyuan on Sunday. Taoyuan has the highest number of foreign laborers in the country at more than 70,000. Among them are 30,000 Thai workers. The Thailand Trade and Economic Office said yesterday that there will not only be a traditional Thai food fair, a blessing ceremony and beauty contests, there will also be a Thai "hunk" show and a "transvestite" contest.
■ Religion
Missionaries honored
Three foreign missionaries were granted honorary citizenship of Taichung County yesterday for their devoted service to local underprivileged people over the past decades. Taichung County Magistrate Huang Chung--sheng (黃仲生) presented honorary citizenship to Father James Thomas Manning, 82, Sister Mary Rose Hoffmann, 89, and Reverend Lilly Singer, 65, in appreciation of their decades-long selfless service for disadvantaged groups in the county. Manning arrived in 1951 and established a free medical clinic in addition to his missionary work in remote central mountainous regions. Hoffmann has preached her faith in Taiwan since 1954. The American Catholic nun helped give aid from various churches in the US to the victims of the devastating earthquake in 1999. Singer, a German citizen who arrived in 1964, is highly recognized by her contributions to the underprivileged children around the nation.
■ Judiciary
Soldiers' kids convicted
Sixty-four descendants of Republic of China soldiers left in northern Thailand after the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 were given lenient sentences yesterday for document forgery. The Taipei District Court sentenced Shen Yun-huan (沈雲煥) and 63 co-defendants to four months in prison, with three-year suspensions. If they do not commit any crime in the next three years, they will not be required to serve time in prison. None have ever had ROC ID cards or Thai citizenship. They came to Taiwan between 1988 and 1998 with bogus papers to receive Chinese-language education. The district court said the accused had purchased ID cards of members of Thailand's minority racial groups or deceased Thai citizens. They used those papers to apply for Thai passports.
■ Diplomacy
Thailand rescinds mask order
Thailand said yesterday that tourists arriving from countries affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome are no longer required to wear masks. Tourists arriving from those countries will still be checked upon arrival, said Charal Trinvuthipong, director general of the communicable diseases department. And "if we detect the disease, we will advise them to return home or put them in hospital," he told reporters. But "those who do not have the disease do not have to wear a mask during their stay in Thailand." The mask rule had drawn criticism and ridicule from many who questioned the government's ability to enforce it. Anecdotal evidence showed that most tourists did wear masks at the airport while being checked by medical personnel but took them off later. Last month, the Thai government triggered protest from Taiwan for demaning tourists for SARS-affected countries and areas, including China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore and Taiwan.
‘JOINT SWORD’: Whatever President Lai says in his Double Ten speech, China would use it as a pretext to launch ‘punishment’ drills for his ‘separatist’ views, an official said China is likely to launch military drills this week near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming national day speech as a pretext to pressure the nation to accept its sovereignty claims, Taiwanese officials said. China in May launched “punishment” drills around Taiwan shortly after Lai’s inauguration, in what Beijing said was a response to “separatist acts,” sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks as state media denounced newly inaugurated Lai. The May drills were dubbed “Joint Sword — 2024A” and drew concerns from capitals, including Washington. Lai is to deliver a key speech on Thursday in front of the Presidential Office
An aviation jacket patch showing a Formosan black bear punching Winnie the Pooh has become popular overseas, including at an aviation festival held by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force at the Ashiya Airbase yesterday. The patch was designed last year by Taiwanese designer Hsu Fu-yu (徐福佑), who said that it was inspired by Taiwan’s countermeasures against frequent Chinese military aircraft incursions. The badge shows a Formosan black bear holding a Republic of China flag as it punches Winnie the Pooh — a reference to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) — who is dressed in red and is holding a honey pot with
Taiwan was listed in 14th place among the world's wealthiest country in terms of GDP per capita, in the latest rankings released on Monday by Forbes magazine. Taiwan's GDP per capita was US$76,860, which put it at No. 14 on the list of the World's 100 Richest Countries this year, one spot above Hong Kong with US$75,130. The magazine's list of the richest countries in the world is compiled based on GDP per capita data, as estimated by the IMF. However, for a more precise measure of a nation's wealth, the magazine also considers purchasing power parity, which is a metric used to
NINTH MONTH: There were 11,792 births in Taiwan last month and 15,563 deaths, or a mortality rate of 8.11 per 1,000 people, household registration data showed Taiwan’s population was 23,404,138 as of last month, down 2,470 from August, the ninth consecutive month this year that the nation has reported a drop, the Ministry of the Interior said on Wednesday. The population last month was 162 fewer than the same month last year, a decline of 0.44 per day, the ministry said, citing household registration data. Taiwan reported 11,792 births last month, or 3.7 births per day, up 149 from August, it said, adding that the monthly birthrate was 6.15 per 1,000 people. The jurisdictions with the highest birthrates were Yunlin County at 14.62 per 1,000 people, Penghu County (8.61
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