President Chen Shui-bian (
"One should replace multifarious governmental formalities with an active and constructive manner" to assist disaster victims, Chen said during a visit in Nantou County to inspect rebuilding work.
PHOTO: LIU HSIN-TEH, TAIPEI TIMES
Nantou County was among the areas most damaged on July 2, when floods and mudslides de-stroyed homes and bridges.
In response to disaster-area township wardens' complaints about the slow flow of aid from county governments, Chen said local government chiefs ought to communicate with the central government about disaster relief coordination.
The central government could undertake face-to-face communication with relevant agencies about disaster relief and rebuilding work in order to avoid delays in handling official documents, Chen said. The president also called for more ecological engineering.
Chen's trip also included a visit to congratulate the parents of Yuan Shu-chi (袁叔琪), a member of the nation's Olympic archery team. Although Yuan came in fourth in the individual competition, missing third place by one point, she and two teammates beat France on Friday to gain a bronze medal.
Later yesterday, Chen attended a Taipei performance by the internationally acclaimed Cloud Gate 2 (雲門舞集2) modern dance troupe.
The performance was part of a series of activities organized by the Presidential Office to promote young viewers' appreciation of diverse cultures.
Chen encouraged the nation's young adults to "care for oneself and appreciate others."
Chen was invited to go onstage with the dancers and seemed to enjoy his literally offbeat performance, as did the audience.
Other events scheduled for upcoming weekends include a traditional Taiwanese puppet show, Beijing opera and comic dialogue (相聲). Presidential Office deputy secretary-general James Huang (黃志芳) said that Chen would try to appear at several more of these events if his official schedule allows.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Credit departments of farmers’ and fishers’ associations blocked a total of more than NT$180 million (US$6.01 million) from being lost to scams last year, National Police Agency (NPA) data showed. The Agricultural Finance Agency (AFA) said last week that staff of farmers’ and fishers’ associations’ credit departments are required to implement fraud prevention measures when they serve clients at the counter. They would ask clients about personal financial management activities whenever they suspect there might be a fraud situation, and would immediately report the incident to local authorities, which would send police officers to the site to help, it said. NPA data showed
ENERGY RESILIENCE: Although Alaska is open for investments, Taiwan is sourcing its gas from the Middle East, and the sea routes carry risks, Ho Cheng-hui said US government officials’ high-profile reception of a Taiwanese representative at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference indicated the emergence of an Indo-Pacific energy resilience alliance, an academic said. Presidential Office Secretary-General Pan Men-an (潘孟安) attended the conference in Alaska on Thursday last week at the invitation of the US government. Pan visited oil and gas facilities with senior US officials, including US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and US Senator Daniel Sullivan. Pan attending the conference on behalf of President William Lai (賴清德) shows a significant elevation in diplomatic representation,
The Taipei MRT is to begin accepting mobile payment services in the fall, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said on Saturday. When the company finishes the installation of new payment units at ticketing gates in October, MRT passengers can use credit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, the operator said. In addition, the MRT would also provide QR payment codes — which would be compatible with Line Pay, Jkopay, iPass Money, PXPay Plus, EasyWallet, iCash Pay, Taiwan Pay and Taishin Pay — to access the railway system. Currently, passengers can access the Taipei MRT by buying a single-journey token or using EasyCard,
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