■ Postal Services
Stamps honor Teresa Teng
Chunghua Post Co yesterday issued 10,000 sets of stamps featuring images of Teresa Teng (鄧麗君), one of the most popular Taiwan-born singers, who died on May 8, 1995, from a severe asthma attack at the age of 43 while on a trip to Thailand. The stamp set is being sold for NT$250, a spokesman for the state-owned company said. This is the second time that Chunghua Post has issued stamps featuring Teng at the request of the Teresa Teng Education and Culture Foundation. Chunghua Post issued Teng stamps last August to mark what would have been her her 50th birthday. The sets sold out shortly after being issued. In addition to local people, many of Teng's fans in Hong Kong, Macau, Japan and Southeast Asian nations bought the stamps. The strong market response prompted Chunghua Post to issue Teng stamps again.
■ Diplomacy
Ally tours Kaohsiung
Sao Tome and Principe President Fradique Bandeira Melo de Menezes toured Kaohsiung Harbor yesterday. Aboard a tourist ship, Menezes and his entourage cruised around the harbor escorted by Kaohsiung Harbor Director Huang Ching-teng (黃清藤), who briefed the dignitaries on the harbor's operations and its business prospects. Huang told Menezes that the harbor handled 8.8 million container units last year, and was expected to see volume grow considerably after expansion and the implementation of further measures to make it a tax-free transshipment port. Menezes and his 15-member delegation arrived on Monday for a five-day state visit. President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) conferred the Order of Brilliant Jade upon Menezes in honor of his contribution to bilateral ties at a ceremony at the Presidential Office shortly after his arrival.
■ Science
NTU student up for award
A National Taiwan University student is among 12 high-achievers selected for recognition in the fourth Young Inventors Awards 2003. Lin Chung-yin, who is studying for a doctorate in chemical engineering, was chosen for devising a test that uses an artificial antibody for rapid detection of all strains of dengue fever in early stages of infection. The Far Eastern Economic Review, in association with Hewlett-Packard, selected 12 finalists in the competition, which is aimed at encouraging and honoring the spirit of invention among students in the Asia-Pacific region. The shortlist was drawn from a pool of 92 entries sent in by students from universities and other tertiary institutions throughout the region. An international panel of 13 judges chose the 12 finalists, with five of these coming from Singapore. The other finalists came from Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Australia, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea. The awards ceremony will be held in Singapore next Wednesday.
■ International Aid
Agricultural team in Panama
An agricultural technical team from Taiwan is helping more than 100 schools in several remote areas in Panama to grow vegetables to improve the diet of schoolchildren, Panamanian daily La Prensa reported Monday. The report said the agricultural team began in 2000 to help schools in remote areas of the provinces of Churiqui, Los Santos, Herrera, Cocle, Veraguas and Darien to set up simple structures for growing vegetables. The project is expected to expand to 124 schools this year. The team has also helped establish 100 permanent farms in Panama, the report said.
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday condemned Chinese and Russian authorities for escalating regional tensions, citing Chinese warplanes crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and joint China-Russia military activities breaching South Korea’s air defense identification zone (KADIZ) over the past two days. A total of 30 Chinese warplanes crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait on Thursday and Friday, entering Taiwan’s northern and southwestern airspace in coordination with 15 naval vessels and three high-altitude balloons, the MAC said in a statement. The Chinese military also carried out another “joint combat readiness patrol” targeting Taiwan on Thursday evening, the MAC said. On
The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday confirmed that Chinese students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation were almost all affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). During yesterday’s meeting convened by the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) asked whether the visit was a way to spread China’s so-called “united front” rhetoric, to which MAC Deputy Ministry Shen You-chung (沈有忠) responded with the CCP comment. The MAC noticed that the Chinese individuals visiting Taiwan, including those in sports, education, or religion, have had increasingly impressive backgrounds, demonstrating that the
MILITARY EXERCISES: China is expected to conduct more drills in the region after President William Lai’s office announced he would stopover in Hawaii and Guam China is likely to launch military drills in the coming days near Taiwan, using President William Lai’s (賴清德) upcoming trip to the Pacific and scheduled US transit as a pretext, regional security officials said. Lai is to begin a visit to Taipei’s three diplomatic allies in the Pacific on Saturday, and sources told Reuters he was planning stops in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam in a sensitive trip shortly after the US presidential election. Lai’s office has yet to confirm details of what are officially “stop-overs” in the US, but is expected to do so shortly before he departs, sources
Tasa Meng Corp (采盟), which runs Taiwan Duty Free, could be fined up to NT$1 million (US$30,737) after the owner and employees took center stage in a photograph with government officials and the returning Premier12 baseball champions at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Monday evening. When Taiwan’s national baseball team arrived home fresh from their World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 championship victory in Tokyo, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) was at the airport with Chinese Professional Baseball League commissioner Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) to welcome back the team. However, after Hsiao and Tsai took a photograph with the team, Tasa Meng chairwoman Ku
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