■ Education
Professor keeps post
The Chinese Culture University (文化大學) yesterday decided not to dismiss Lin Tsai-mei (林彩梅) from her post of professor after she was accused of helping her daughter to finish a dissertation on business and management by copying from Lin's book. The university, however, suggested dismissing Lin from her role as the director of the school of business before the next semester begins in February. Lin said yesterday that she was innocent and that her daughter, Su Tsui-yun (蘇翠芸), had just "cited" her books and not copied them. Chinese Nationalist Party Legislator Mu Ming-chu (穆閩珠), who is a trustee of the university, said she was not surprised that university president Chang Ching-hu (張鏡湖), Mu's husband, had permitted her to stay at the university because of the allegedly intimate relationship between Chang and Lin.
■ Cross-Strait Ties
Chen issues year-end plea
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) used his New Year address yesterday to call on China to remove the missiles aimed at Taiwan and to renounce the use of force. "We call on the Beijing authorities to publicly renounce the use of force and to remove the missile deployment against Taiwan," Chen said in his speech broadcast on radio and television. Chen said the referendum, to be held on March 20, is a basic human right for the nation's 23 million people. "The referendum is to preserve the status quo of a peaceful Taiwan," he said. In Beijing, Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) also issued a New Year message yesterday, saying China wants peaceful reunification with Taiwan but opposes Taiwan independence. "We will carry on the principle of peaceful reunification and `one country, two systems,'" he said.
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
The National Immigration Agency has banned two Chinese from returning to Taiwan, after they published social media content it described as disrespectful to national sovereignty. The agency imposed a two-month ban on a Chinese man surnamed Liang (梁) and a permanent ban on a woman surnamed Yang (楊), an influencer with 23 million followers, in October last year and last week respectively. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) yesterday said on the sidelines of a legislative meeting that Chinese visitors to Taiwan are required to comply with the rules and regulations governing their entry permits. The government has handled the ban and
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