■ Defense
Arms exchanges approved
The US House of Representatives on Friday authorized President George W. Bush to sell an Anchorage-class dock landing craft to Taiwan and step up exchanges between the US military and Taiwan's armed forces. In its National Defense Authorization Act for the fiscal year 2005, the House of Representatives also requires the secretary of defense to undertake an exchange program of senior military officers and civilian officials of the Department of Defense with Taiwan designed to improve the nation's defenses against China. These exchanges will focus on threat analysis, military doctrine, force planning, logistical support, intelligence collection and analysis, operational tactics, techniques, and procedures which relate to defending Taiwan against submarine and missile attacks.
■ Diplomacy
Yu seeking trade pacts
Premier Yu Shyi-kun said on Friday that the government is seeking to sign free trade agreements with the US, Japan and other countries. At a meeting with leaders of the country's six major business groups, Yu said that the free trade agreement signed between Taiwan and Panama last year has produced fruitful results. It is more important to sign similar accords with larger countries in terms of their economic scale, such as the US and Japan, he added. In addition to Beijing's obstruction, Yu said, various issues must be resolved before Taiwan can sign a free trade agreement with the US, including the protection of intellectual property rights, opening of telecommunications market, rice imports and pharmaceutical products. Yu assured the business leaders that his Cabinet would do its utmost to sign free trade accords with more countries and develop Taiwan into an international operations, logistics and capital-raising center.
■ Diplomacy
Fishery ties promised
The Marshall Islands' President Kessai Note said yesterday that he will continue to work to strengthen fishery cooperation between his country and Taiwan. Note and his wife, who paid a visit to Ching Fu Shipbuilding in Kaohsiung City's Cijin district, said they were very impressed with the deep-sea fishing ship Fongsian 668, which was recently built by Ching Fu Shipbuilding, the largest private shipbuilding company in Taiwan. The Marshall Islands have abundant fishery resources, and Taiwanese tuna boats have frequently anchored at its capital, Majuro, for supplies and maintenance since the signing of a fishery cooperation agreement in 1998. Note reiterated that he values the fishery cooperation between his country and Taiwan.
■ Diplomacy
Tuvalu PM visits Kaohsiung
Tuvalu Prime Minister Saufatu Sopoanga visited Kaohsiung Friday. Sopoanga, who attended President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration ceremony on Thursday, was warmly greeted by Kaohsiung Mayor Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) and leaders of the shipbuilding industry and the fishery sector. In addition to attending a luncheon party hosted by Hsieh and Wang Shun-lung (王順隆), president of the Taiwan Deep-Sea Tuna Boatowners and Exporters Association, Sopoanga toured shipbuilding and fish-processing companies. Tuvalu is one of the most important bases for Taiwan's fishing vessels in the South Pacific, with 33 fishing boats that are registered with the Taiwan Deep-Sea Tuna Boatowners and Exporters Association operating in its waters.
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
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
NAMING SPAT: The foreign ministry called on Denmark to propose an acceptable solution to the erroneous nationality used for Taiwanese on residence permits Taiwan has revoked some privileges for Danish diplomatic staff over a Danish permit that lists “Taiwan” as “China,” Eric Huang (黃鈞耀), head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of European Affairs, told a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Reporters asked Huang whether the Danish government had responded to the ministry’s request that it correct the nationality on Danish residence permits of Taiwanese, which has been listed as “China” since 2024. Taiwan’s representative office in Denmark continues to communicate with the Danish government, and the ministry has revoked some privileges previously granted to Danish representatives in Taiwan and would continue to review
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
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