■ Politics
KMT to focus on election
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Policy Committee Convener Tseng Yung-chuan (曾永權) yesterday announced six proposed bills that the KMT caucus will focus on in the upcoming provisional legislative session. Among the proposed draft bills were establishing an investigation committee to probe the March 19 shooting the president and vice president, assembling a committee to probe the activation of the national security mechanism which was launched following the March 19 shooting and amendment of the Constitution. Additionally, the KMT will focus on draft bills concerning the organization of the Central Election Commission (CEC), the proposed national communication council (NCC) and the Law Governing Legislators' Exercise of Power (立法院職權行使法), said Tseng, who made the report during the Central Standing Committee's weekly meeting yesterday.
■ Society
Firefighters pick coconuts
Firefighters in Chiayi were faced with a special assignment yesterday when they were summoned to a school to help pick coconuts to prevent them from falling and hitting pedestrians. There are more than a dozen coconut trees on the campus of the Peishing Junior High School and school authorities noted that because falling coconuts have in the past damaged vehicles parked under the trees, they were worried that a similar event could result in injuries to people. Ho Min-ping (侯閔評), a fire squad leader, said that he and his colleagues are used to dealing with swarms of wasps and having to catch snakes, but never thought they would be required to pick coconuts. Ho said that the firefighters used the mission as a chance to sharpen their skills in operating their fire truck and harvested more than 100 coconuts in the process.
■ Animal rights
Seminars planned
Young animal rights activists across the country will get a chance to meet each other and discuss animal protection strategies beginning Sept. 9 thanks to the efforts of the student group Dogs Obligate Guardians (DOG). The seminar next month will mark the first in a series of discussions targeted at animal-friendly youths aged 18 to 30. The series aims to increase awareness among younger Taiwanese about animal rights and interaction among animal rights activists, with a focus on Taiwan's stray-dog problem, said group members.
■ Bureaucracy
Salary hike considered
The Executive Yuan will decide by Aug. 12 whether to raise the salaries of military personnel, civil servants and teachers, the head of the Central Personnel Administration (CPA) said yesterday. CPA Director-General Lee Yi-yang (李逸洋) said that a screening committee for the salary hikes will meet in a few days to discuss the issue. The committee will take into consideration economic growth, price index changes, per capita income growth and changes in the private sector in making its evaluation, Lee said. Executive Yuan Spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said that the CPA has estimated that a 3 percent salary hike for the nation's 600,000 military personnel, civil servants and teachers will increase government expenditure by NT$18 billion (US$530.97 million). The last such salary hike was in 2001.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
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