■ Inauguration
Tighter security planned
National Security Bureau officials confirmed yesterday that the stage for President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration will be surrounded by bullet-proof glass for the sake of the safety of Chen and his guests, local media reported yesterday. They said that they may borrow the glass walls from foreign companies, instead of purchasing them directly, because such bullet-proof equipment is seldom used and can be extremely expensive. Meanwhile, since the weather may be quite hot for the inauguration, the bureau has asked foreign manufacturers to produce thinner and lighter bullet-proof jackets for Chen and Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) for the ceremony.
■ Diplomacy
Berlin reaffirms `one China'
Germany declared on Monday its most explicit support yet for Beijing's position toward Taipei, rejecting any Taiwanese independence and criticizing any moves that increased tension across the Taiwan Strait. Germany reaffirmed its ``one China policy'' and said a dialogue with Beijing over its human rights record would continue. In a joint statement issued on Monday in Berlin, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) also pledged to strengthen economic ties, particularly in high technology. "The German government is opposed to the independence of Taiwan," the declaration said. "It opposes all steps directed toward an increase of tensions in the Taiwan Strait." Wen was received by Schroeder at the Berlin chancellery during a four-day visit to Germany focused on promoting business with China.
■ Inauguration
Chen stresses security
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) said yesterday that threats directed against embassies have been taken seriously and that security measures have been increased. He was commenting on reports that the staff at the embassies of Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Panama received telephone calls warning them not to attend the May 20 inauguration of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). The minister said that it is "better to believe the threats," and enhance security at the embassies. Meanwhile, ministry spokesman Richard Shih (石瑞琦) stressed that the process of inviting foreign dignitaries to the inauguration is proceeding smoothly, and that the ministry has not received any notification of changes to the itineraries of the nation's allies. Shih also said that the ministry will do everything possible to ensure the safety of diplomatic personnel and foreign dignitaries.
■ Transport
Noto accepts direct flights
The new Noto International Airport on the Noto Peninsula in central Japan's Ishikawa Prefecture is preparing to accept direct charter flights serving tourists from Taiwan, air transport industry sources said yesterday. Airport authorities have been negotiating with Mandarin Airlines, a subsidiary of China Airlines, to jointly operate the flights between Taiwan and the peninsula, a tourist attraction on the Japan Sea famed for its hot springs, beaches and mountain scenery. Beginning June 30, Mandarin Airlines will operate an anticipated 36 charter flights direct from Taiwan to Noto by the end of the year, carrying some 55,000 tourists, sources said. The opening of the Taiwan-Noto service is expected to not only boost tourism on the Noto Peninsula but also to boost tourist numbers for the nearby city of Kanazawa.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. The single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, saber-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. A single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 800,000 to 400,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, sabre-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
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